Small Steps
by CoolyCakeCove
Summary: A sleepy kunoichi—nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja—has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC
1. 00:01

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**young akemi-chan:** _moony_

**years til nine tails:** 10_ years, 2 months _

**akemi:** 8_ years, 2 months_

**location:** _nemachizuki forest (summer)_

* * *

Call it a second soul or a crappy reincarnation, but I've always had memories of a world unlike my own, from a person twice my age.

(Although, it's a bit disconcerting that this reality I live is supposed to be _fiction_.)

Those thoughts mess with my mind, warping it so my mental age and maturity is unknown even to me. Maybe I should be wise from all the second-hand experience. But why should I rely on it when I'm not even a decade old? Everything begins to tangle together and I just want to sleep. Dreams aren't affected by my troublesome situation.

_Who am I really? _I think, opening my eyes to watch puffy clouds swimming in the sea of blue.

Honestly... I don't have an answer. I probably never will. Maybe that's okay. Maybe that's _my_ normal.

For now, I live apart from eccentric ninja and chakra monsters... from wars and deaths. I can enjoy being sprawled on this warm grass, watching creatures such as ladybugs or worms go about their easy lives. They know exactly who they are and what they must do with no regard for their past _or_ future.

(I wish I could've been reincarnated as something more carefree. Maybe a puppy or a slime.)

The breeze picks up, blowing my fringe like the grass around me over my eyes. The green field ripples like waves. The lure of sleeping is pulling me deep under its spell...

"_An-chaaan_!"

Until a girly, cheery voice sends a wave a terror through me.

Warily, I turn my head and look. Bounding to me from across the garden, waving, is none other than my cousin.

(I really hate that nickname.)

Sayaka stops right next to me, elegantly falling to sit on her folded knees, bouncing. Her mint green skirt pools around her lower half like a cupcake. Overall, her energy ruins the mood.

"An-chan, An-chaaan," Sayaka singsongs.

She's not leaving until she gets what she wants. Reluctantly, I say, "...Sayaka."

"It's such a _beautiful_ day and there's nothing to do," she says. "So, I decided to get a nice little mission for both of us!"

A mission we _both_ can do?

Has she even met _me_?

My cousin is about five years my age, meaning she has already completed the Ninja Academy and, in fact, has become a Chuunin not too long ago. Her forehead protector barely stands out against her neck with its black ribbon the same color as her short hair and our eyes. Unlike me, she is very responsible and hardworking. Sayaka has no problems with missions.

Me, however...

I had a very sickly start at life. Naturally, it led to my family coddling me and treating me as if I were glass. So, I never had to work much harder than fighting my illness. As such, I'm a homeschooled eight-year-old. I _used_ to attend the local civilian elementary school, but my sleeping habits proved too much for teachers. For me, becoming a ninja...

was never an option.

Not traditionally, at least.

So, how can I do missions despite me not being a ninja?

Sayaka and I... we're civilian-nin.

(I use _I_ lightly.)

As the name implies, we're civilians who pretend to be ninja. Not to be vigilantes or to run some kind of black market. The fact is that ninja are expensive. Ninja can cause a huge mess. When a ninja enters a village, the village as a whole becomes slightly more dangerous. There could be enemy ninja lurking. Could be that the ninja is inefficient and causes more harm than good.

That is how civilian-nin came about: civilians performing ninja duties without any chakra nor formal training. They're farmers with makeshift weapons and martial art experience. We cost much less than shinobi and remain much more anonymous as we can easily become a simple civilian. We do not attract enemy ninja and our damage output is minimal without chakra use.

That said, civilian-nin don't get any major, political jobs. We're often tasked to D-Rank and C-Rank equivalents. People who hire actual shinobi for a D-Rank have more money than they know what to do with.

Our profession is a secret within the Land of Fire. If word gets out there are civilians siphoning jobs off the market for actual shinobi, there will be consequences.

My cousin isn't supposed to be an actual shinobi and a civilian-nin. Sayaka is only required to become one in case of another war. Because of the Second Great Shinobi War, civilians were banned from assisting on the war front due to their casualties outnumbering shinobi. Now, Sayaka can fight in the war without any problems, just like our parents did while we were little, without being real shinobi.

(Just in time for the incoming third war...)

"You want..." I stop and stare seriously at my cousin. "You want_ me_... on a _mission_...?"

"Of course," she grins.

Which is ludicrous. I'm the worst civilian-nin this family has seen.

I've never, ever completed a single _successful_ mission.

Our missions can be as easy locating missing children to setting up an ambush for thieves. Although I never go on any serious mission, I can't even do my part in the easier missions.

It's not as if I'm _not_ trying to be successful, though. It's just too hard to keep going.

What's the point in being a faux ninja? I know my family doesn't expect for me to become a legitimate ninja. _I_ don't either.

So I fail mission after mission to instead sleep or laze about. Because there's no point, no reason for me to try.

(And yet... my family keeps on trying.)

"...I don't wanna," I tell her, rolling over and away.

Sayaka giggles. Easily, she picks me up and positions me on her back. I know I won't fall, but I still wrap my arms around her neck. "Silly, An-chan! If you stay still too long, you just might become a tree. And I can't water you forever, so you're coming with me!"

(As if that logic makes sense...)

"...where?" I sigh.

"Fukemachi Village's Nemachizuki Forest, of course!"

"Fu-... fumachi...?"

Sayaka giggles and walks. "Silly! We will be there before! You! Know it!"

She isn't kidding. When I wake up, I can feel I hadn't been asleep long.

Sayaka had stopped moving and is watching the town probably about four of me away. She shifts my position on her back and exhales. "Reminds you of home, doesn't it?"

The town pours out the forest like water spilling out from a dam. The tall, dense vegetation makes up almost all of the village's scenery. The houses and buildings are largely tree based.

"Fukemachi Village is mainly a lumber village. One of the largest exporters, too," Sayaka tells me, walking again. "The trees here are thrice as dense as the ones in the Hidden Leaf. Legends say the First Hokage created this especially dense forest as a gift to his first daughter."

"...who'd want a forest... for a birthday present?" I say.

"His daughter loved forests, that's why. She loved to play hide and go seek with him. Of course, it wasn't a tame game like what we play, but an intense match between ninja." Sayaka pauses to laugh. "But anyways... all Fukemachi Village has going for is its lumbering after the First's and Second's deaths not too long ago..."

With her being five years older than me, she'd seen them both. The First Hokage spoke when she entered the Academy and the Second Hokage visited her school. The Third Hokage signed the paper giving her a Chuunin vest.

"Well," my cousin Sayaka says, after clearing her throat, "that and bunnies!"

"...bunnies?"

We reach the threshold of the village, off the thick grass and onto the soft pebble and dirt streets.

"Hold that thought, An-chan, I need to find our client."

Sayaka walks with a bounce in her step. It makes her puffy skirt rise and fall like a swimming jellyfish, makes her short bob swish, and makes me quite nauseous.

(_Can_ she walk normally?)

Fukemachi Village has no shinobi at all. No forehead protectors rests on any foreheads (or any other place on bodies, really) and no standard shinobi vests are worn. Here, there are men and women dressed in simple clothing that reeks of sawdust and grass. Any person who doesn't work have decent, almost trendy clothes and no notable scent.

As we are civilians and they are civilians, the people of Fukemachi Village only stare a bit too long at Sayaka's obviously trendy fashion style (who would wear shinobi boots and puffy long sleeved tops in this place? Plus mint greens and whites at that?). Their eyes glance over my very simple outfit.

But there's not a single look of dread or weariness civilians normally give ninja.

Sayaka returns each stare with a friendly smile, successfully making every person look abruptly away as she continues past. All except for right now when she pauses and gasps.

"Ah, An-chan," she gushes, "look, look!"

Sayaka skips over to a rather muscular man in a gray shirt lacking sleeves, a man who only stops on his path to stare at her forehead protector she recently put on. She digs into her shirt sleeve and pulls out a small scroll. "Say, say, are you the leader of this place?"

The man's thick, furrowed brows relax. "Ah, I know that scroll. So you are the one I sent for..." He breaks off uncertainly as he catches wind of me.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Sayaka. This girl on my back is An-chan! Say 'hi,' An-chan! Please be kind to us!"

(_Really, Sayaka, do you have to tell him that lousy nickname?_)

I can only muster up a small incline of my head.

"What's the point of bringing along a little kid? I don't have any babysitters for her." There's nothing overly hostile about his words or body language despite his words.

"She's in training. She needs experience. What other way than to get experience for a simple mission than to join me?"

"Simple? You sure?"

Sayaka remains unfazed. "Of course it is. All we have to do is find and get rid of the bunnies, right? That's no problem at all! My brother is a total nut for animals. I think I learned a few things from him!"

Unlike her, I can't really think positively.

(_A man like him thinks this isn't simple?_)

I pluck the scroll from her fingers and open it. Of course, I can't really read much because I never really focused hard enough to learn. That's probably why Sayaka didn't stop me.

_Forest... bunny... fear... people... to run away... to scream... moon... nighttime... help us please..._

um...

_scary bunnies_?

Sayaka continues to talk, "Leader, sir, please tell me everything you know about these bunnies."

"Well... bunnies aren't much of an issue. However these... these aren't right. They're too smart and too mischievous for their own good. They might be specialized bunnies—like the bunnies summoners use."

"Summoners...?" I mumble.

"Certain people can summon animals using contracts," Sayaka says. "Like Lord Hokage! He can summon monkeys."

"Right. They are not common bunnies and, as such, are outside the realm of a common person. These bunnies live deep in the Nemachizuki Forest and come to the town at night and when villagers are asleep."

"Bunnies up at night? And... do they come to the town at night for food?"

"I believe so, yet no one has reported missing food that wasn't the result of a rebellious young one."

"Hmm, thank you, Leader."

We still have time to kill after eating, so Sayaka offers to walk around the village.

"Strange, isn't it?" Sayaka says to either me or herself. I walk beside her, so I don't really feel like craning my neck up to see. "No missing food? If not that, there must be food or water where they stay. So the bunnies must want something more..."

I try to think hard.

(I mean, I got a soul twice my age in my noggin, so shouldn't I be smarter?)

"It's a forest so there should be plenty of food, water, and materials to make a nice living space. So either they're curious about the people or maybe someone's inviting them...?"

But Sayaka comes up with a plausible solution. I guess... experience sometimes beats age.

Sayaka claps her hands then rubs them together furiously. "Alright! It's time to interrogate the rest of the villagers!" With me on her back, she begins her interrogation. Most of the villagers were at work in the forest, but the ones who stay back hold either fear or fury towards the elusive bunnies.

"Excuse me," Sayaka says after introducing us, "what do you know of the bunnies?"

"Annoying, that's what," says a woman with a baby in her arms. "My kids won't stop talking about seeing those bunnies. Wished they just get lost; don't need my babies hurting themselves out there."

"Those critters aren't right." A very large and stocky man towers over the both of us. "We spent ten days hunting them. Ev'ry time, no prey. Our traps were even destroyed, and not by human hands."

Sayaka tilts her head at that. "Are you sure a human didn't do that?"

"Please, we'll know if a human lives there—shinobi or not. And none does. The _only_ explanation is if those critters were summons."

"They are spirits, obviously," says a man clothed in a robe, smelling the least like leaves and dust. "Our best hunters could not catch them—impossible, you know? Those rabbits must not exist at all, then."

Many of the people she speaks to fall into those three categories or a simple "I don't know, but get rid of them." Sayaka doesn't get much out of those people. At sunset... a rich orange glow pours over the village wherever the trees do not block the sunlight.

Sayaka sits me on a bench and ponders next to me, swinging her legs.

"Guess once it's night, we'll just have to find the bunnies ourselves. Like I said, my brother keeps so many animals! It's probably in my genes somewhere to decipher animals too!"

Well...

Knowing her mom, it's certainly not in her genes. I've never seen much of her dad, though, so I can't determine that for certain.

Sayaka hums as she thinks. I start to doze off until my stomach starts to throb and ache. What did I have for lunch? Can't remember... I probably fell asleep then, too.

I tug at Sayaka's sleeve and my stomach growls before saying anything.

My cousin's startled face turns into a grin. "Not bad, An-chan! But you do know you can just speak normally, eh?"

...just for that, I hop off the bench and search for food myself. Course, I don't make much ground before Sayaka picks me up by my middle and bounds to the nearest restaurant.

We sit on stools and Sayaka points to the words I have no chance at reading, pronouncing them, describing the food. Most of the food selections all have one part making up the ideogram in common.

"Why..." I say, "...do all of these have... cheese?"

"That's the game of this place! It's nothing but sweet milky treats!"

A dairy based sweets store? But shouldn't there be cows or goats in the village that we'd see? Maybe dairy is a super common import. I guess it makes sense why a place like this would care so much about dairy. A person needs a strong body for a rigorous job.

Sayaka lets me try a vanilla cheesecake while she gets a smoothie. The junk food shuts my stomach up. By the time I'm finished, it's nighttime. Motion barely exists. A silence made more profound by the easily heard katydids and dying sounds of cicada sends a shiver up my spine. Looking at Sayaka, a frown looks offplaced on her pale face.

As if sensing my movement, she turns to me and, with a bright grin, winks.

The shivers vanish... now replaced with a _Really?_ look.

"Anyway," Sayaka says almost too loudly, pulling storage tags out her sleeves like candy, "I've prepared some bunny catching equipment while you were sleeping. And, you know, that wasn't too difficult considering you slept a bunch today!"

Yeah, that's natural. I almost hunch up my shoulders in agreement.

Out the storage tag is a dozen carrots, still cold to the touch, still fresh and crisp. She gives them to me, pulling my sleeves over my hands so they won't slip.

With the carrots in my grasp, Sayaka tucks a different colored storage tag in my pocket. The paper is now yellow and its ideogram is written in red. "If there's too many for you, please put them back inside. I'd hate to waste food!"

"...but... I don't know..." I feel like I've seen this tag before.

"Ah, An-chan, this isn't the first time I've given this to you. It's a blood-based storage tag, remember? You don't need to mold your chakra for it."

(But if I wanted to put the carrots back, how am I supposed to grab it and bleed on the tag? Isn't this tag too tiny for all these carrots?)

Sayaka continues on talking, blissfully unaware that she's a little bad at planning without her brother on her side.

"The hunters gave me some tips about catching bunnies! Plus, I took a few notes out of my brother's book—not literally, An-chan! And the plan is very simple...

"You'll walk around and try to entice the bunnies so I can set traps. If these bunnies are as smart as everyone thinks, they'll likely ambush me while I'm setting a trap. Even if you trick one bunny, that's one bunny less that knows of the trap.

"We'll be separated but I'll be close by. No matter where you are An-chan, know that your Sayaka _always_ knows where you are!"

As she speaks, I feel my motivation drain away. _What's the point in all of this_? I want to say. _Why are we faux ninja wasting our time like this?_

I don't have the courage to say it out loud.

And so Sayaka deposits me somewhere inside the Nemachizuki Forest while she Body Flickers away. Without her voice or her eccentric way of walking or her carrying me or her thinking out loud...

It's quiet.

Lonely.

Much less bright.

Sure, sure her green and blacks looked more muted in the forest than my pastel yellows, but why do I remember them as being so bright? As night coontinues, the moon warps and twists elongated tree shadows so that the silhouettes look foreign. Unnatural. Beastly.

Every step I take crunches on the grass and organic debris so loudly. My breathing, my swallowing—too, too loud.

The wind through the trees sound like hissing.

The falling leaves graze my cheeks like the lick of a snake.

The warped shadows are monsters extending their beastly hands to catch me...

I crouch down, legs unable to keep me upright. The carrots press tightly onto my chest as I hug them tightly. I'm trembling, but I'm hardly cold.

(Should I close my eyes? Should I? Seeing is scary but not seeing is scarier...)

I bury my face into the green leaves. Yes, this reminds me of Sayaka. She'll return soon and—

Very, very close to me, a distinct rustling of bushes. It's too heavy to be the wind. It's definitely a person.

_She came back for me, she must have been teasing me. Like always..._

Out the bush is a thing not much taller than I.

I can't think of anything but look at it.

It's pure white with an almost opalescent glow as the moonlight strikes its fur. Its pupil-less eyes are pure silver like the cape it wears around its neck.

"Ah, good evening," greets the very deep voiced bunny, "are you a lost human?"

_Wh—...what?_

(I think I feel asleep. It's so dark anyways...)

"Um..." I rise and show him the carrots. "I have some."

"Oh? And those are? An offering?"

"Guess so. Don't you know... what carrots are?"

"I have never eaten a carrot in my life!" The bunnies throws its head back and laughs like an exaggerated hero. "However, I will except this offering, human! Are you, perhaps, a female?"

...is it not obvious?

...the girly yellows and strawberry-milk-pinks of my shirt didn't give it away?

I nod slowly.

"Excellent, _excellent_! Please, please join me! Come join the rest of my clan!"

Without letting me reply, the bunny just hops away.

Well... if he is going to show me all of the bunnies, I might as well follow his lead. It's funner in this absurd dreamscape than in reality, that's for sure.

So I walk behind him. It's easy to separate the surreal colors of the bunny from the haunting forest. Finally, over a hill and past a large tree, and I see _them_.

There are twenty-nine bunnies total. None are as tall as the first bunny. But all are just as surreal looking. Their mass of little heads swivel towards us, though more to me.

"Everybunny! I have brought with us a human girl! She comes with an offering of carrots!"

They look at one another, noses sniffing, confused? A bunny bursts from the crowd, giving off a firery vibe. Down his body, a long, black streak marks his fur.

"Moon King Getsuei the Jaded," shouts a nasally voice. "What have you brought back? What are these 'carrots' you speak of? Are we certain these are not fatal? You understand the humans are impatient to see us gone!"

The silver caped bunny who led me here, Getsuei, looks at me. "Are these carrots poisonous?"

I take a bite out of one, crunch, swallow. "I mean... they're sweet."

"Then they are not poisonous, Yazuki," Getsuei states.

"But, My King!" Yazuki sputters.

Getsuei cuts Yazuki off. "Rabbits of the Moon Kingdom, tonight we have been blessed by this human girl! May our land prosper and survive another era!"

The bunnies start to cheer. I sort of wave, not really knowing what would be appropriate.

(This really... isn't the weirdest dream I've ever had.)

A blue caped bunny bursts from the crowd, fur long and grayish more than white. An old man's voice emerges from the bunny while he bows. "Great evening, human girl, I am Nanukazuki, or 'Nanuka' for short. My job is to manage the rice cakes. Oh, how delighted you'll know that the rice cakes will be oh so very sweet and pure."

"Rice cakes?" I say.

"Ah, we regularly prepare rice cakes for our Moon Kingdom ever since our main food source's recipe has been lost. Having the land necessary to plant is rather difficult, which is why you find us here."

"...oh."

Of course, rice is such a popular commodity here. It's almost in surplus.

"It is very lucky indeed you've decided to show up," Nanuka continues, nose twitching rapidly. "By this sunrise, we would have been erased completely."

"Huh? I thought... you were animal summons?"

"Our goddess has left us," Getsuei says, lowering his head in brief silence. "We fend for our own under my guidance!"

He turns enough so that his cape flutters in the wind. Being still now, I can read his name: _moon_ and _shadow_.

Alternatively, his name can be said as _Tsukikage_.

"Oh wow," I breathe. "...but isn't this too much hassle? I'm... only a person."

"No, no, you are very important to the Moon Kingdom," Nanuka says. "Very, very few souls as young and pure as you have met us. With you here with us, we'll be able to produce the most divine rice cakes of our entire existence!"

The bunnies cheer, their tails are quivering.

"I'm glad," I say. "...but I can't stay."

Nanuka laughs. "Silly, silly! You have to make the rice cakes! Of course you won't 'stay'!"

Now I have to tilt my head. I'm used to crazy dream logic, though. "...I... can't cook...?"

The rice cake maker only laughs harder. "Silly human girl, I will be doing the cooking. Your role is to spill your blood for our kind and fertilize our land. After all, we certainly cannot make rice cakes without first having a pure soul."

huh.

I realign my head. Yet the world still seems tilted. Nothing has changed. Nanuka still laughs, the bunnies are excited and flustered, Getsuei enjoys his success.

And yet...

I am not charmed and amused.

I feel cold on the inside. I want to run away.

These carrots I hold onto are heavy heavy heavy.

"Once you leave your useless mortal body with us," Getsuei adds eagerly, "you'll be known to us as a Moon Princess, Demi-goddess of the Moon. That is the highest honor we bestow!"

I drop the carrots and, as I stumble backwards a bit, feel no less heavy at all. If anything, I feel exposed.

"No," I mumble, "I... some Moon Princess... no..."

"Eh?" Getsuei's ears perk up.

"...I need... to leave, so, um..." I elaborate, quiet.

_Now_, the scene changes. The bunnies are not cheering, there is no happiness.

The bunnies blur together with the black, alien tree shadows to become something horrible.

"Ah."

Getsuei's voice is gravelly. Not a single trace of softness remains.

"I'm sorry, but you never had a choice once we all accepted you."

Without a word being spoken, I know the crowd of bunnies are about to lunge for me.

My breathing picks up as I turn, staring at a path made of mostly shadows. I have no idea where I am.

(Why won't this nightmare end?)

"Where do you think you're going? After _my_ An-chan?"

I turn.

Sayaka's staff touches the ground first before the balls of her feet. With the contact comes a burst of wind that throws the bunnies back a few centimeters.

They all start to rise. Getsuei is the first to cry, "_Capture that human girl!_"

Sayaka giggles. "How can I take you adorable critters seriously? My brother will be upset I hit animals, but maybe he'll understand you all are a little rude!"

From her thigh holster under her skirt, Sayaka grabs and sends kunai flying. They shimmer slightly blue from her chakra. In a blur, the weapons cut through the sky, suddenly reappearing to stab the ground or tree or a bunny.

It's so easy to tell when a bunny is hit. The red stands out against their pale fur. But it's especially obvious when the kunai is stuck in the center of their chest.

_Sayaka is killing them..._

I don't know why, but the ground feels like it moves beneath my feet as I think that.

The wounded bunnies grab the kunai and pull them out their bodies should the weapon remain. As soon as it is removed, their wounds regenerate almost instantly with a gross, wet sound.

"What? They can heal?" my cousin says a bit too loud.

"Of course!" Getsuei cries from his spot in the back. "We Rabbits of the Moon Kingdom receive strength from the moon! So long as that moon remains in the sky, we are blessed by our Moon Goddess to remain alive!"

"Huh..." Sayaka's stance grows more firm. "But didn't I hear you mention you'll die come sunrise? So there's one thing I gotta do... if I can't kill you, then at least you won't take my An-chan!"

Getsuei's eyes widen. "W-Wait, the human girl is more important. Deliver An-chan to me _now_!"

Sayaka lunges forward, swinging her staff hard, cracking heads and necks of bunnies who start to shrug off the attempt. "An-chan, _get out of here now_!"

I...

I've never been good at a single mission.

I've always failed.

I'm unreliable.

So when I shamelessly turn away and bolt, I feel as if I can just do this _one thing_, maybe I can finally do something right.

I run and run.

The world is nothing more than silvers and blacks.

Trees, bushes, and things the darkness hide get in my way. I don't know where I am or where Sayaka is, if I'm making a huge circle or heading to a dead end.

(I'm... scared...)

_I'm helpless._

(Please... Sayaka...)

Something holds my feet and forces me to crash onto the ground hard. I roll over, spitting dirt out my mouth, searching for a rock or stick.

"Human, desist! I will do no harm!"

That voice and those words... I stop panicking and sit up. The bunny with the one black streak is talking to me.

"...Yazuki?" I cough and pant.

"Ahem! Call me properly!" Yazuki stands tall, puffs out his chest. "I am Juugoyazuki, the harvester. I am the one who was created by the Moon Goddess to make the moon recipe."

"...m-moon recipe?"

"Yes. A long time ago, our goddess created twenty-nine bunnies. Every day, one bunny would protect the Moon Kingdom from Earth until our goddess disappeared. Without her divine intelligence, I am unable to harvest the ingredients necessary for the moon recipe.

"As such, my kind resorted to desperate measures. Nanukazuki discovered pure souls could be used to make spirit rice cakes which we could feed off of. Despite my attempts to dissuade them from the black practice, I still could not discover the moon recipe."

Having caught my breath, I am a bit more clearheaded. "Ah... well... what do you know... about the moon recipe?"

"Only that a human from which our goddess derived from will know the answer."

I blink.

Yazuki stares.

"Er," I say, "that's it?"

"Yes, that's _it_! It's hard to recreate something you do not understand after all, human!" More calmly, "I do know the moon has an abundance of it, however. It can make an abundance rice cakes with souls... but the goddess created something so much more delicate."

"What'd it taste like...?"

"Mmm... slightly tangy, thick... fulfilling. Sometimes it would be fluffy, sometimes liquid, sometimes cold. It never, ever lasted long at all, however."

Doesn't that sound a lot like

"...cheese," I say.

"Excuse me?"

"...the nursery rhyme. The moon... is made of cheese."

"Cheese! Yes! Most excellent!" Yazuki's nose stops its twitching. "How does a bunny create recipes with cheese?"

"Oh. Well... you need a cookbook, then... That would be in Fukemachi." I look around to see the moonlight is almost gone and is nearly replaced by starlight. "We don't have long either..."

"Fine! I shall take us to the village at once! Follow, human An-chan!"

I chase after him while groaning. Whether it's his bunny senses or if he's travelled this way before, we get to the village fairly quickly. Yazuki won't let me stop for a breather, simply tugging me along.

"Where would this village have cookbooks for cheese?" he says softly as we run through the sleeping village.

"Ah... uh..."

I suppose a store would be closed at this hour. Once it opens, it'll be too late.

"...I'm sleepy," I sigh, feeling my eyelids lower on their own volition.

(But if the weird bunnies die at sunrise, won't it be okay? After all... they've killed so many.)

"What? You cannot sleep now! Please, human... we must find this! We all want to meet our mother again... our precious goddess," Yazuki urges, pawing my arm.

(What if... something awful happens to Sayaka? What if she doesn't make it until sunrise?)

"Um..."

I blink away the heaviness for now.

Even though we've travelled all over Fukemachi Village, nothing seems familiar. Especially in the darkness where whites become grays and blues become blacks. In this night, not even the moon can lead me.

Oh.

The Moon.

"Yazuki," I say, "there's... there's a place with the ideogram 'cheese' on it. It—It looks like this." I draw the ideogram on the dirt road. Of all things, _this_ is familiar to me.

"Hm. Yes. I have seen this before. Over here."

We're back to running, turning around corners and running across large stretches of grass until this place starts looking kinda familiar.

We've made it to the cheese place. The building is very plain looking apart from the green and pink store decorations. As expected, it's completely closed with a metal wall pulled and locked on its store front and windows. It's safe to assume all doors are also locked.

"This is the cheese place, is it not?" Yazuki turns back to me as I catch up. Too busy panting, I nod. "Are not the doors closed? How do you suppose we retrieve the cookbook?"

"Well... the cookbook... is bunny sized. Most books are..."

"That does not answer the question! Hurry, human, the red sun is almost upon us!"

I jog around the back and tug on the door near the dumpster. It remains shut. I don't even have the strength to push it open.

Even so, the door looks so old and gross—how could it withstand my tugging? There's even a gap under the door, on the sides, a bigger gap near the door hinge. All gaps have the diameter less than a pupil. Maybe a strand of hair could fit through, or a bunny whisker.

"Are we stuck?" Yazuki looks at me expectantly. "Is this the end of my kind?"

I stuff my hand in my pockets, frowning real hard in thought. Something smooth brushes my hand. I pull it out.

"Ah..."

The blood-based storage tag.

Measuring the rectangular tag, it can fit through the small gap. Problem is, I still need blood to seal and unseal, but maybe...

With difficultly, I bite the inside of cheek. The copper smell floods my mouth, nose, and throat and feels hot against my tongue. Two fingers brush the wound and return red with blood.

"Yazuki... when this blood reaches the center of this tag... you'll be put inside it. I'm... going to slide you in and undo it. You'll grab the book."

His tail wiggles. "Interesting! Well, there is no time to waste! Do it, human!"

He hops on over the tag and once I put my blood on it, he disappears with a poof. Before the cloud clears, I'm grabbing the seal and slipping it through the gap under the door. From the gap near the hinge, the widest gap, and a bit from the window when I stand on a box, I can see the seal is next to the hinge gap.

"...hopefully this works..."

I pull a few strands of hair. My hair isn't long, but it's long enough to slip through the gap and reach the tag. I can't see it when it happens. I only hear the _poof_ and, "Ah! That was a strange feeling..."

_He thinks _that's_ strange._

"The cookbook... has the ideogram for cook. Do you... want me to spell that too?"

"Not necessary—I can read ideograms like that, I do assist a cook after all."

"...oh, sorry."

Through the gaps, I can see that Yazuki's fur shimmers silver in the darkness. He searches through cabinets, finding only ingredients, and heads upstairs where the family lives. Above, the night sky slowly fades into a bluish color, Yazuki appears with a book in hand.

"Human! Reach!" Yazuki pushes the tag a bit through the gap so I can pull it from my side. He then stands above it with the book.

With no time to waste, I stuff a strand of some more blood covered hair. And pull the tag.

The door, thankfully, didn't get sealed too. Probably because it was such a giant thing and seal can't take much.

Nevertheless, Yazuki and I have the cookbook.

"I shall run back, you will follow my footprints!" And without much debate, he bolts, leaving me to trail behind.

Birds are singing, there is movement within the village, the forest doesn't look as haunting as before. Above all, a part of me realizes I just spent my first night with no sleep. That's... kinda momentous.

By the time I finally catch up, I see Sayaka dirty, bleeding, exhausted. She smiles, though, seeing me, and holds me.

King Getsuei is looking through the cookbook with the bunnies. "Cheese? The Moon Goddess made us cheese?"

"Yes, yes. All of the tools these humans use can be stolen or recreated," Yazuki says. "We won't need to rely on souls! With this, the goddess watches over us again!"

Nanuka nods. "I... understand. Then... it is unfortunate we can no longer enjoy rice cakes. However, I am eager to try this again."

King Getsuei looks at us. "Sincerest apologies, humans. We shall return back to our home never again to bother you. Thank you greatly for perserving our kingdom."

"Ah, gee," Sayaka sighs, "go before I kill one of you for real!"

If I had to be fighting never dying bunnies for hours, I'd be a bit peeved too.

"Human girl, wait!"

Yazuki hops to me. Sayaka points a kunai to his throat before he gets too close, though.

"When the moon of the fifteenth day shines bright," Yazuki tells me, "please wish a good harvest. If you continue to do this, I will be able to grant you a blessing."

"...blessing?"

"Yes. It is a small token of my gratitude."

"...ah, er... thanks."

"An-chan doesn't need your blessing," Sayaka pouts. "Shoo." She holds me almost possessively.

The bunnies all group together, all twenty-nine of them.

And, all at once, before the Sun peeks over the horizon, they vanish with a smoke cloud.

Sayaka, still wounded, carries me on her back. She bandaged herself good enough and took some pain medication, but her pale face, heavy steps, and breathing give it away.

"Those were mean bunnies," she smiles. "I led them to traps, holes, and explosive tags. At one point, I humored them into thinking I was you. Funnily enough, they figured out I wasn't you. As expected, you're one of a kind, An-chan."

Since I wasn't conscious last time we came here, I can't tell if we're moving slowly. But it feels like we are.

"...do you wanna rest?" I say.

She laughs breathily. "I'll rest once my An-chan is safe and sound at home. Besides... I'm so happy to get home and tell everyone the good news."

"...the moon bunnies?"

"What? No way, those were just really weird summon animals. No, I mean you just completed your first, successful mission! Congratulations..."

"Oh..."

_I did it. I actually did it._

My heart beats fast.

My first successful mission, huh?

It feels amazing.

But how come _this_ went so well?

_What_ was so different that I didn't fall asleep and give up trying? This time... there was so Sayaka, no person to cheer me on to continue.

"...my first... successful mission..." I murmur, starting to fall asleep.

Over the next two months, I go right back to failing missions.

Sure I went into some missions confident I could recreate my first success... yet that motivation could never last long. And, as such, the allure of sleeping and lazing about is just too strong.

Still... for the fun of it, I pray to Yazuki on the fifteenth of every month. On the morning of the sixteenth, there's always a slice of cheese in my bed. When I eat it, it tastes just like regular cheese. Wouldn't moon cheese taste _unique_? Maybe Sayaka's pranking me?

I asked her and she was honestly confused. "Um, are you sure this is regular cheese? It taste way too sweet. It's nice every once in a while, though!"

"Nevermind..."

One day, Mom calls me into her office, really serious and quiet. Completely unlike her.

I sit with my legs folded under me and Mom does the same across the table. After breathing in and out, she speaks.

"It pains me to say this," she begins slowly, "but... I feel that you should never become a civilian-nin."

* * *

**small steps chapter 1 **| _moony_

* * *

AN: Welcome to _Small Steps_. This idea was created way back in August 2014 and is just now seeing the light of day. Of all my reborn!OC ideas, this is the oldest and refuses to go anywhere. Might as well get this out so I can finally say I made it happen, right?

So, ideally, I will translate Japanese words into English with few exceptions. I don't really want there to be language barrier. _An-chan_ is untranslated because _An_ is weird on its own. Things like _Kakashi-sensei _are untranslated while _Hokage-sama_ is strictly because Teacher Kakashi doesn't flow smoothly as Lord Hokage. _Ninja_, _shinobi_, _shuriken_, and _kunai_ are untranslated because no-one knows their real translations-enduring person, endurance, etc. _Jounin_ and other ranks are untranslated because they don't flow smoothly (which I'll explain next chapter).

I'll explain more exceptions as I go, but, typically, I don't want there to be a surplus of Japanese in a chapter. I don't want to alienate English speakers.

It's first person present because I feel those attributes match the very personal and explorative nature of the story. Third person would just leave some kind of gap, you know?

This first chapter is probably the _most_ surreal the story is going to get. I just felt that our abnormal heroine needed an abnormal, almost dreamlike introduction.


	2. 00:02

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**young akemi-chan:** _omen_

**years til nine tails:** 10_ years, 0 months_

**akemi:** 8_ years, 4 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (fall)_

* * *

Sometimes, I feel really bad for my mother.

My mom is very delicate, though not in a sickly sense. She cares so much. Too much. The pale pink and white kimono she wears usually makes her look as soft as a teddy bear. My mother _is_ a teddy bear.

Her name is Hanae Minakura, her first name meaning something like "flower bay". As any Minakura, her eyes are pitch black, but rather than it being scary or creepy, there's something so warm and mesmerizing about them. Maybe it's because they seem owlish like a child or that they highlight her long, feminine eyelashes. Her small, black bob curls slightly and sometimes a bang, normally tucked behind her ear, falls into her face.

When I look in the mirror, I got all of my mother's softness but none of the charm.

The softness that makes Mom so easy to care for ends up making me appear to be way too fragile. Any guy would see me and think I need saving. Coupled with the general sluggishness I feel for being sleepy, and I'm a damsel in distress.

So, it's weird to see Mom look not that soft. It's weird to see the curves of her hips and her sizable chest concealed by angular stacks of papers and books. But weirdest of all is her voice lacking any softness.

"It pains me to say this, but... I feel that you should never become a civilian-nin," Mom says.

I blink once, twice, thrice...

I don't think I'm dreaming.

"Eh?" is the only thing I can respond.

Mom breathes in deeply, puffs her cheeks out, makes a small noise.

"I mean, you're _my_ baby girl, my only baby girl!" And just like that, my mother is normal again. She moves to sit next to me, holding my hands. "Honestly, I am so happy you completed a mission! However... it's obvious that success may have been just unusual luck. You still can't complete successful missions, and so I won't burden you with any more civilian-nin missions."

_Reasonable_ but somehow I don't like it.

(Didn't I tell myself I didn't want to do missions? Who am I really?)

"When can I...?" I trail off, finding weird I even care.

"Maybe..." Mom looks away with a forced smile, "when you're an adult?"

Ah.

"...what am I supposed do until then?"

"Well, you can learn from our school lessons. Or train. Or help me around the house. You know, this is a big house," she adds, laughing. "There are plenty of things you can do without leaving home. I believe in you! You're so mature and thoughtful for your age, you know."

Mom is smiling encouragingly... but I feel like she's imprisoning me. Sheltering me so that I can't ever hurt myself.

(If this soul or old memories are correct, Mom won't have much luck.)

"I... wanna do... _something_, I guess," I sigh. "Not chores."

I guess this is the fate I'll be forced to. I had a very lackluster beginning and I will have a lackluster ending.

"I expected you'd say that," Mom admits with a bitter smile. "I mean, you've already got the taste of adventure, so it'd be hard to settle down. So, just for you, here's an E-Rank mission!"

"...E-Rank?"

Missions go from D to S. D-Rank missions are for Genin. E-Rank missions boil down to community service, usually not paying much or barely paid at all. Requirements of these missions means they're simple enough for non-ninja—serving soup, picking up litter, cleaning chalkboard erasers. That's the lowest of the low.

_Does my mother worry that much about me?_

Mom shows me a poster. "This mission is in the safest place I know! Just ten minutes away is the Hidden Leaf Village. In there, a woman needs help setting up her shop. So, you'll just clean windows or sweep the floor. Do you think you can do this? If not, I can give you another E-Rank that can be done inside the house!"

"But... that's a chore... not an E-Rank."

"It _can_ be an E-Rank with the right mindset, though."

I take the first option. I've never been to the Hidden Leaf Village.

It's because I live ten minutes away in Maple Village.

My hometown, more like a protected territory of the Leaf, is between the Leaf and the Land of Water. It's smaller than the Leaf, but way bigger than most villages, making it a popular rest point and tourist location. As the name implies, my village is surrounded by maple trees. These special trees turn blood red in fall. It's so vivid that legend has it an army of Mist Anbu tried to attack the Leaf and found Maple instead. The shinobi thought the Leaf covered their trees in blood and retreated immediately.

No one can say for certain if it's true.

And I've been exposed to the trees for years now. It's lost its appeal.

There's only one, huge path to the Leaf. It's frequently used, so it's impossible for me to get lost. After several hugs from my mother, I walk down the path. At some point, I sleep while I walk because I wake up and see two shinobi men jostling me awake.

Their forehead protectors are so cool.

The gate the men work in front of is massive and radiates chakra as firm as walls.

In the background, the Hokage Rock looms stoically above the village with its three eternal heads.

There's people...

"...the girl's probably mute," I hear the glasses shinobi guy say. "No wonder she's has such a heavily worded scroll."

Oh, in their hands is a bright red scroll written by my mother. Everything I need to get in and out of the Leaf is in it.

The man hands me back the scroll. "Take care. Be safe. You best not walk these streets at night."

Oh, geez, a ninja just touched this scroll...

The shinobi guy ends up pushing me inside to get the line moving.

The atmosphere of a bustling village life is no different than a popular city. There are people everywhere, smells of all kinds, voices and colors. Individually, everyone looks so unique and eccentric. Together, everyone is a indescribable blur of similarity. Maple isn't sparsely populated but I've never seen this many people at once.

People go about their lives with a deep inner serenity. No matter where they are, the Hokage Rock is visible. Three heroic men watch over all the villagers, never ever wavering.

Oh, I need to find the woman. Mom also gave me very detailed instructions. If I'm still confused, she advised me several times to ask only friendly women or polite children.

I follow the directions until I reach the end. When I look above the paper, there is a two-story building in between a long block of stores and restaurants. It doesn't look like it's open for business as its inside has bare shelves and no decorations—not including countless boxes.

"Alrighty!"

The voice is really close. The sound doesn't come from the sidewalk but from above.

And standing on the side of the blue building like a spider is a woman. A _ninja_ woman.

She gazes with a satisfied smile at her store's sign: _Weapon Works and Repair_.

The woman jumps and lands to the ground with a smooth roll. She hops to her feet, dusts her hands off. Her hammer is in her left pocket, eye-level to me.

Whoever she is, she has a unique style. Her dress starts as a sleeveless, kimono blouse that opens up to reveal her navel and the black miniskirt underneath. If she didn't have mesh tights on, she'd be exposed. The garment continues to make an upside down V until her knees. Both her arms and legs and lean, muscular, and scar-free. In short, as a kunoichi, she's ranged support.

"Ah, kiddo, sorry, the shop's not open yet," she tells me. Oh, _me_. "Run along to your parents, got it?"

"U-Um..." Not knowing what to say, I walk forward and show her my mission letter. She quickly takes it and reads.

"Whaaaat, _you're _my little helper? Aren't you a bit young?" A finger with dark red nail polish pokes my cheek. "Look at you, you're a mess! So sloppy! Look at your bed-head! Did you just wake up or something?"

_I mean_...

She has every right to critique me. My hand-me-down isn't quite my size. Well, nowhere near. What's the point of having proper clothes if their person never leaves home much? Sometimes I try rolling up the pale yellow and strawberry milk colored sleeves that fall over my hands. Sometimes I try tucking my shirt into my pants, but they're equally large on me. Even today, half of the pink fabric is in my pants. And my sandals are cheap,_ not_ made for this much walking.

I adjust my pants and smooth my shirt down. Running a few fingers through my hair, I say, "I've been... on several missions, so..."

"And yet you're on an E-Rank? What, taking a break?" Her laugh is an aggressive _haha_ noise. "It don't matter, just work and I'll give you shiny coins."

She immediately throws at me a broom, dustpan, a damp cloth, and a bucket, leaving me staggering and overwhelmed. "Clean her up! It's a bit dusty and dirty in here, no? That's 'cause this baby was empty for a few months. Well, until it met _me_."

(Well, gee, if I wanted to do chores, I would've stayed home.)

The inside is very plain. The wood aesthetic makes it seem kind of cozy, though. But there is dust and dead insects and cobwebs everywhere.

It's mindless work.

I start sweeping and fall asleep.

A part of me still feels my body moving. Most of me is off in dreamland. An Eternal Tsukuyomi of my making.

Now that I'm involved in the Leaf Village, I think of what's to come to all of these people. I know the future of this world. Should I do something about it? There's no reason to... everything will turn out okay in the end.

Still, my life will be kind of boring staying in Maple with my ninja family while I do menial stuff. Perhaps once I'm done with this mission, I won't ever come back to the Leaf at all.

A harsh pain sprouts from my forehead.

Barely lucid, I touch the now tender and hot area. I expect to see the wooden style of the store, not a pale face and dark brown eyes reflecting a dazed me.

The woman of the _Weapon Works and Repairs_ store is frowning.

"...sorry," I automatically sputter.

"_Hmmm_."

She leans in closer, a strand of black hair falling from her bun. _Can_ I call it a bun? The bun isn't elegant nor does a good job pulling her hair back. Her hair spills from the red ribbon holding it like soda foam on the edge of a cup, teetering over the brink but never falling.

"I asked for help, not a sleepy kid," she says.

"Um... well, you see, I'm—"

She pins my mouth shut with two fingers. "Don't care! I'm bad with people—names, faces, personali-the thing that makes you _you_, blah blah. If you don't wanna get upset I forgot, don't give me a chance to remember."

When she lets go, I say, "...then, your name is? I'll remember..."

"There's no need to know my name. All you need to know is: listen to the adult and you get money. Off you go! No sleeping, either!"

I clean the rest of the day while she continues to update the shop. I'm forced to leave an hour before sunset and to come back the following morning.

When I do enter the store again, the woman is drinking some dark tea that smells like vanilla. The walls are now painted baby blue.

"Ah, that poster... are you my help for today? Let's get started." The woman puts the tea on the counter and strolls to the front of the store. "There's a bunch of trash in the back. Throw it away, will you?"

"Huh? Where..."

"Near the dumpster, now hurry!" Her loud clapping gets me to move. "The longer you take the less revenue I make!" she adds, mumbling to herself.

She shoves me out the building. At the back, in the shadows of several buildings, there is only a single trash can for her shop and six displaced bags because the trash can is too full. I tug one. It's probably heavier than me.

I am not exaggerating when I say it takes me all day to throw them away. And when I get back, there's two more bags to throw away.

On the third day, I'm sore. No amount of baths can change that fact.

"You look so tired," Mom frowns as she walks into my room carrying washed clothes. "Should I just send Sayaka in for you?"

I close my eyes and go _hmm_.

I'm underappreciated and overworked. The pay I get will mostly go to my parents, not that I have any real inclination to buy things for myself.

_But it's the Hidden Leaf Village. It's so amazing. What if I can never return after this?_

"Great another helper; the last one sure took his time throwing trash away," the woman says instead of a normal greeting. "Well, I managed to stock some shelves, see? Like... I put things out of stuff onto here."

By _some shelves_, she means _all the shelves_, the walls, and the display by the window. Instead of wood and old smells, it smells like the weapons and paper.

There are the traditional weapons like kunai and shuriken. There are swords from daggers to full on katana. Staffs, polearms, javelin. Ball-and-chain, scythes, morning stars. Countless others I can't name. In black, wood, brown, or navy blue colors.

Frankly, it's kind of epic.

Before I can stare longer, the woman forces a small book in my hands. "Today, you're going to take these numbers-_do_ you know your numbers?"

I nod.

"And how to write?"

I nod.

"Is it decent? Can people read it?"

"Yes... I'm homeschooled. My work... gets graded, so..."

"Great! Take these numbers next to the picture I drew of these things on the shelves. Write them underneath everything inside the store. Don't worry about reading anything besides those numbers. That's called pricing items. Understand?"

I nod. The woman tests my understanding before leaving to polish weapons. I look at the highly detailed notebook. It's as I thought... most of the words are too complicated for me too read. Sighing, I go from weapon to weapon.

I realize fairly quickly these weapons are sealed shut. The few weapons that are not covered up are very blunt and fragile—purely made for decoration. That's good, a ninja or person won't be able to steal a weapon and hurt anyone.

As I price the items, I see how expensive some of them are. Some of them have more zeroes than I've ever seen in both lives.

Pricing takes up most of the day. I nearly fall asleep a few times—I definitely snooze during lunchtime and breaks—but I get the job done.

On the fourth day, I'm not expecting much. The woman is already here, putting papers into folders and binders. Reading and annotating bigger binders.

"What's this...?" The words are way too advanced for me to read.

"Adult stuff." She sounds exhausted. "Okay, I'm almost done. I went around looking at weapons shops for prices. A few of my weapons cost more. Since I'm not very well-known, I can't charge ludicrous prices yet. Ah, don't worry about what that means."

_Yet_?

She shrugs. "I'll have to lower the prices. That puts me in a deficit, sadly, but not a great deficit. My saving account can handle the cost."

"Sorry you're in a loss," I say, being polite without even thinking about it.

The woman leaps from her seat, nearly spilling her tea. "What the _what_? _You_ understand what a deficit is?"

Honestly... her shock is amusing, so I add, "I know you wanna charge... high prices. I know what pricing is... Um, speak normally to me. I can't read mature things, but I can understand mature words when... when you say them."

"Well, damn," she says and sits.

_Aw. Now I feel bad._

"...so, who do you... buy this stuff from?"

All her vigor returns. "Pah! _Buy_? All this junk is handmade!"

I look at the store again. "Eh?" They're all so professional looking.

The woman gazes lovingly out into her store. "I'm the daughter of a blacksmith and a ninja, wasn't like I taught myself. I prefer self-sufficiency over buying any day!"

"But... you have a store?"

"This is just a front. Dad told me if you become an extra popular weapons shop, Lord Hokage recruits you to make ultra secret, _ultra_ awesome weapons for the Leaf! It's way better than just making this mundane stuff."

(Says the woman who made a morning star?)

"You made all this... can you use all of them?"

She looks at the ceiling in thought. "Ahh... maybe? Theoretically? It's hard to make a weapon without knowing how it works. For example..."

She pulls out a storage scroll with the ideogram for _dagger_ on the front. Opening it, she choses a circle and pushes chakra into it. A small dagger appears, blade shining almost blue in the morning light.

"You see this here?" She points to the blade's point. "There are three ways you can create the point. If you write them out, it's just like being a ninja..."

On a spare chest of paper, she writes _small_, _middle_, and _big_ in one column and _low_, _middle_, _up_ in another column. "On the second row, watch when I write 'ninja'."

_Genin, Chuunin, Jounin_.

"It's the same when I write point for the first column..."

_Kokissaki, chuukissaki, _and _okissaki_.

"These three points are kinda like the three ninja classifications. Each point can only do limited amount of things. A small point can't do a big point's job just like a Genin can't do a Jounin's job. Keeping the weapon's limitations in mind, you can create it. Knowing what the weapon is functioned to do, you can design it to fit your needs.

"This dagger isn't made for brutal cutting or throwing, so it's light and its point is small. Very useful for stabbing small and fragile things, but not that useful for slicing or cutting. Most ninja prefer to use a big point, much like a Jounin can do A- through D-Ranks easily, but sometimes it does the job _so_ well, you'll probably end up hurting people far worse than using a small point."

She shurgs. "But, well, most ninja don't care about that junk, which is why I hate them all. This is just a side quest in the journey to become a special person for Lord Hokage!"

She explained it very clearly to me. I can picture a dagger with a big point slicing through Nagato's parents and killing them. If those ninja had a dagger with a small point, maybe they wouldn't have died so easily...

"Hey, are you even in the Academy?" She observes me. "Your chakra is weak, your body is fatty, and if you were, you'd have to be a dead last."

A cold bead of sweat drips down my face. "...home schooled."

"Oh, then none of this stuff matters."

"But..."

But what?

There's no way I'm thinking about trying to be a ninja, right?

Me? A sleepyhead who can't even do a simple civilian-nin mission?

The woman sighs. "Listen... if you're thinking about it, think again. I _am_ a ninja. You're gonna need a resolve stronger than 'I wanna be Hokage!' if you wanna make it to Genin. What are you even _good_ at?"

She's right. She's right and I know it. What can I do? Nothing.

Without me, the future will turn out bright. I don't need to get involved.

(But in this crazy world, I'm just going to pass up the ninja life for a mundane one?)

A pain sprouts from my forehead.

The woman peers at me. "Thinking hard? You _must_ be a lost cause. What were those missions you went on? Sure they weren't fake?"

Wordlessly, I grab my broom and sweep.

It's silent in the store. Not really... the woman speaks but I only respond with nods or shakes. I leave early.

On the fifth day, I enter the store a bit later than usual due to my slow pace. In the store is the woman and a few customers. By the shelf near the entrance, a man is scrutinizing a dagger, pushing his clouded lens further up his nose. I watch him search the dagger for features before he looks at me.

"Well, hello, panda. Lost? You shouldn't be in here," the man grins. "It's a death omen."

That's the _last_ thing I expect to hear from this weird smiling man. "Huh? Weapons... are death omens?"

"Ha, oh no, child, the owner is. It's great that she sells them, that gives them a nasty reputation to scare enemies." The grinning guy winks.

I ignore his eccentricities. "Why is she... a death omen?"

"What? You don't know anything and yet you're alone? Shame on your shelter-some parents. That's the infamous _Shini Nishi_. Now, will you return home? It's dangerous here, panda." The guy extends his wrinkly hand.

"Thanks for the information," I bow quickly. "Have, uh... have a good day."

The corner of his lips stretch higher. "Fine then! We'll meet again!" He turns and bounds to the front desk to buy his loot.

_Shini Nishi_. The name still confuses me without knowing knowing the ideograms used to write it. I wait for the customers to leave before saying to the woman, "What's _Shini Nishi_?"

Her smile, as malicious as it seems, fades. "You're probably the worst helper I've had so far! What do _you_ think?"

_Nishi_ is a word that means west, but isn't that kind of taboo? I mean, considering the Land of Earth and Land of Wind are to the west. They aren't too popular with Land of Fire. As for _Shini_, that means death.

"...deadly west?" I offer.

"I'm weapons extraordinaire Nishi. _Ni_ as in 'two' and _shi_ as in 'to die'."

"W-Wah...?"

But that _Nishi_ is even worse.

(What kind of parent puts the ideogram for death in their child's name? That's really taboo...)

Oh. Wait.

_Nishi_ like that... is a saying: _two down and one to go_.

(Her parents are really edgy, huh...?)

"I see..."

Nishi gives me a wary look. "You see?"

"Uh... yes?"

"At this moment, people run away or curse me. But you're still staying? What, you _that_ desperate for change?"

Nishi doesn't seem anything like her parents, so I guess she's alright. I can't fathom why a parent would give their child such an ominous name. "...my family's way weirder, so... your name isn't anything unusual. Of course... I'll stay."

Nishi abruptly turns around. "Wow... she's got guts. Or she's just really dumb."

(Probably both.)

"Um... Nishi? My name is..."

"Sleepy," replies she matter of factly.

"...what?"

"I'm bad with faces and don't even get me to remember names! If I can remember that, be grateful! You're _sleepy_ to me, got it?"

Well...

"Okay," I say, warming to the name.

Nishi smiles happily.

"If that's my nickname," I continue, "I'm glad... because even though you kept saying you didn't know who I was... you definitely didn't forget."

Nishi flicks my forehead. "Where the heck is this cleverness coming from? How old are you, four? Don't try to think you're so smart! There's no way I'd remember someone as dumb as you because I hate everyone!"

(But you're so defensive.)

I nod along. "Of course... perfect sense."

"So anyway, because I don't have short-term memory loss... what kind of family do you have where having a death omen for a name isn't weird?"

She's chuckling as she speaks, not knowing what she's in for.

I describe to her every one of my family members.

She can't look away, she's stunned.

When I finish, Nishi blinks until she comes back into reality.

"Okay," she says flatly. "Okay... let's talk about things that won't drive me crazy: weapons."

Through the day, we barely get any customers. I clean occasionally and Nishi looks out the giant window to see people walking by. The emptiness allows me to think.

Maybe if I just tried the Academy and tried to learn ninja stuff... that would be okay with me. Sayaka and her brother would never teach me, in fear of Mom's fury. I'd love to see if I have potential, but there's no way anyone would teach me at all. A slow, sleepy girl is more trouble than good.

"Nishi..."

Nishi looks away from the window. "You sound more monotone than usual. You afraid of me?"

"I'm..." I start again. "I'm not... good at anything. My family expects for me to fail... I want to do something right. I did something right once... that was a wonderful feeling, being... useful. I want to join the Academy, but... if I go like this, I'll be rejected."

Nishi twirls a loose strand of hair around her finger. "Maybe that's a good thing? Not every person can be a ninja."

"...doesn't hard work mean anything," I ask, not really knowing who I'm asking. "It's fine... if I have to work twice as hard... to get half as far."

Nishi sits up in her chair. "H-Hey, where'd a kid like you hear those words from?"

She's avoiding the topic. Okay, I guess I'm asking for too much.

Still, very soon, the future will become very bleak. I'll get to witness the sadness in person this time.

"...Nishi, I'm only here because my mom... thinks I can't do anything right. Everyone does. If I let them, my family will just lock me away and protect me. That's... not horrible but that's not living. I get it... I _am_ mostly useless. I still did something great though... so I want to believe I can do greater things."

I'm rambling. Nishi, the stranger, the death omen, is the only person I confide to. Most of the heaviness within is gone. Yet I can't say my future has changed.

"Parents are the worst, right?"

Nishi's non sequitur leaves me speechless.

"Always forcing you to do things they want you to do. They say age makes you wise, not bossy and ignorant. I never wanted to be a ninja, I wanted to make weapons. I never asked for my grades to be affected by how well I can make genjustu—even if I don't even care about it! Parents are supposed to be there and give advice, not to force something on their kids because they've stereotyped their child."

Her eyes are burning.

"Honestly, sleepy, you really do seem hopeless. It's only natural your family would think that. If you really don't want them to, then it's up to _you_ to change their minds. Look at me—I'm doing what I loved all along. If your thing is being a ninja, fine, but you can't get all butthurt when your dream fails."

Her vigor is affecting me, accelerating my heart and pushing away my doubt.

"I'll work. I'll definitely... work. I'll prove to them... I don't have to protected forever. I really want... to be useful to them and others... I don't want to be a burden."

"If that's your motivation, then you'll need to take steps in reality to make it come true," Nishi nods. "You need to learn and learn fast. Those Academy kids don't care if you're a civilian or from a Noble Clan, _you_ gotta beat them. What can you do now?"

"...that's the problem. I'm too weak for Body Techniques. I don't have enough chakra and chakra control for Ninja Techniques and Illusion Techniques... I've never once practiced Shuriken Techniques..." I trail off, overwhelmed by my uselessness.

"You can't really do anything, huh? Ahhh... you really can't blame your parents for doubting you." Nishi closes her eyes in thought. "You should do something that doesn't require any of that stuff. Ummm... then, maybe... probation?"

"Huh?"

"One chance. I'll give you... one chance only."

"..._huh_?"

"Agh! Stop your annoying grunting!" Nishi huffs. "I'll teach you what I know until it's time for you to make a move. You'll take that stupid entrance test then. If you make it, maybe I'll keep teaching you. If I can turn a zero like you into a student, then you can endorse my shop and my brand and maybe Lord Hokage will see you with it during your graduation exam!" Nishi dials it down a few notches. "But if you fail, guess you really didn't want it. And I don't really lose much, my dream will continue and yours won't."

No... no way.

She's going to teach me?

(Teach _me_?)

A strong feeling siezes my heart. My eyes and throat start to ache. I show Nishi my pinkie finger and say, "I promise I'll make my dream come true."

Nishi isn't that interested in the pinkie promise, but does so anyway. "Yeah, yeah. Just want you to know, hard work takes work. _More_ work than normal. And because you're so hopeless, you don't have the luxury to slack off."

"...I understand."

"Okay, well, I know exactly what standards you need to be accepted into the Academy. It's not gonna be easy, sleepy."

"I understand."

Nishi grins. "Ah, I'm kinda fired up! If you do great, Lord Hokage is gonna put me on his radar!"

We agree to call this training my "work"... since I "did such a good job helping", Nishi wants me to "work when I can".

I show Mom her written statement and try to wipe off my sweaty hands.

Mom lowers the statement. "This is..."

I look at my lap.

"I'm glad! My little girl is a little helper!" Mom giggles. "I'll allow it, just make sure you don't do anything too strenuous, okay?"

I nod, not trusting my voice at all.

* * *

**small steps chapter 2 **| _omen_

* * *

AN: If it's not obvious just yet, I knew our sleepy ninja would have a tiny amount of chakra so she can't rely too much on chakra stuff. So I thought about the few things you _can_ do without chakra: use swords, use bo staffs, bombs, etc. I then decided why have her specialize in just one or two weapons when she can learn _all of them_ (theoretically)?

In short, this OC's fighting style is heavily inspired by Tenten. But rather than sticking to flinging herds of weapons out scrolls, the oc's skill set will be a bit more fleshed out in future chapters. Plus, she will not become a one trick pony, if that helps matters.

Oh, fair warning, she'll have to learn Sealing Techniques like all girls seem to do, but nothing more complex than sealing and unsealing. Anything more complicated will not be dealt with by oc. She's _not_ going to master this. (Not that it's bad, I just want to explore different arts.)


	3. 00:03

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**young akemi-chan:** _working_

**years til nine tails:** 10_ years, 0 months_

**akemi:** 8_ years, 4 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (fall)_

* * *

Hard work is quite literally hard work.

(I think I almost forgot this fact when I was preoccupied with the future.)

"Your body's too weak to work on Body Techniques," Nishi tells me. "We'd have to get you fit and lean before we can teach you any attacks. Even then, you'd still have to have muscle memory and the ability to fight... it's too much. As for Ninja Techniques and Illusion Techniques... you'll need to master chakra molding—which will take too long. Though with your crappy reserves, you won't have much of a future with it.

"The only real thing you _can_ do is Weapons Techniques. The basics don't require chakra and you don't need to be fit and lean to start out. However, if you want to be a ninja, you can't have that fat."

"Right..."

Nishi writes down my workout schedule for the next week and, looking at it, I think I'm going to die.

"Since we need you to get strong fast, eat lots of proteins. Try to skip anything too fatty. Use this protein powder if you seriously can't eat any more meats."

The diet she puts me on is a thousand calories more than what I usually eat. To think I struggled to fill my stomach before this...

I start the workout routine when my family is asleep or at Nishi's shop. To help me get stronger, she thought I should use one kilogram weights (as if suddenly working out wasn't hard enough). The pain, the soreness, it's a bit too much...

Five days a week, I get to Nishi's shop a couple hours before it opens so she can tell me the lesson for the day and give me my objective. While I remain there, I work under the shop practicing in what Nishi calls her weapons den, a basement area where she stores the rest of her weapons.

A space (that I had to make) is sectioned for me to practice Shuriken Techniques—throwing handheald weapons like kunai and shuriken, exercise, and weapons practice.

Nishi spends most of the first three months teaching me weapon parts, what weapons are made to do, and why it works so well. As my muscles gradually begin to grow stronger, every day I get closer to actually holding weapons instead of watching.

"Sleepy," Nishi calls.

Reluctantly, I get off the floor and rise. My noodle, fatty body is at its wit's end. "...yes, Sensei."

"The workout?"

"...mmm... thirty push-ups, sit ups, lunges on both sides... er, twenty pull ups... a meter run in fifteen minutes."

"How many sets?"

"Uh... sometimes two."

"Alright, good enough. Come with me. Don't act like you're dying here—isn't today a rest day? Get up!"

In the weapons den, Nishi puts a small box on the table. In it, shiny kunai and shuriken reside.

"Today's your first weapons lesson. If I had taught you earlier, it'd be underwhelming. Your muscles were so weak, you couldn't get it to stick to the target even if you were a centimeter away."

"Nishi-sensei... are you exaggerating?"

Nishi looks me up and down. "I was, but... that might've been the truth."

(So cold, Sensei...)

"Since you're still sore, we'll begin with shuriken. Shuriken are lighter than kunai and do little damage. Why? They're a distraction, not a lifeline. Say you're leaping away from the enemy. If you don't want them to come for you and take advantage of the fact you can't change direction midair, throw shuriken and force them to block or dodge until you land.

"Aiming to kill with shuriken is stupid. You'd have to be a god or lucky to hit anything vital. With its hole in the center, it loses a lot of weight needed for real damage—unless you chuck it hard enough. Even though it doesn't do much, still missing your target can hurt friendlies or will screw you over in combat. Here, watch."

There are four shuriken in her hand, placed so the razor sharp point doesn't stab her, one blade held by the side of her knuckles. All four are thrown and hit the centermost circle perfectly in the center. One hundred percent accurate.

"That's harder than it looks, you know." Nishi places the four shuriken in my hand properly, forces me to tighten my hand so that the blades will leave imprints. "Throw."

Just like her, I draw back my hand and throw.

And...

The shuriken go all over the place. Not a single one hits the target. Or any other targets nearby.

"Huh," I comment.

That really _is_ hard.

"Ugh," Nishi exhales, "even your first throw is horrible. Okay, I watched you and you did absolutely nothing right."

"...gee, thanks, Sensei."

"When you throw, keep your arm and hand straight. Pretend you're a super rusted machine who can't even twitch. Or... you have arthritis. Whichever works. If a finger loosens or if your arm isn't parallel to the ground, you will never be accurate. Some people intuitively figure out when throwing, you're just a human slingshot, but you don't have that time."

With her suggestions, the shuriken stop going in all directions. But without real muscle power, the shuriken hit the board and bounce off.

"Don't get discouraged," Nishi says. "You can't expect a newborn to kick a can far. And without enough strength, you can't be as accurate as you want. If you don't go faster than air resistance..." Nishi gives me a thumbs down. "Air resistance will mess up the throw every time. Well. Practice."

I do... for hours... Returning home, I have make my tiredness seem not that bad. Plus, my new diet... my dreadful, new diet...

I think... if I eat another slice of fish... my stomach will explode and I will die. Unfortunately, I haven't met my calorie quota, so in my belly this fish must go.

Mom is giggling. I find she's watching me. "It's just... it's just you've been eating a lot more now! Is working at the shop tiring you that much?"

"...your cooking is excellent, Mom," I skillfully dodge.

"What? I haven't tried anything different, so don't admit that," Mom blushes.

Sayaka swallows her last bite of food, ready to join the conversation. "An-chan looks so stuffed, like a little teddy bear! If you don't want to eat that, I'll take it off your tiny hands!"

Having started this diet, I realize Sayaka eats a _lot_. I'm guessing all ninja have to eat a bunch to stay active.

I split half of the fish with her and force myself to eat the rest.

A month later to the date, Nishi introduces throwing kunai. With the ring of the kunai on her finger, she twirls the weapon until it's a grayish blur. "Kunai can be used for a bunch more stuff. This can be thrown, but it takes more effort, moves slower than shuriken, and will give heavy damage. You can stab, slice, deflect, cut, or climb with a kunai. It's your new best friend. It's so versatile, you don't even need to learn about it much. That's why you're going to master this."

"Eh? But... it's so easy to use..."

"I know that. But mastering a kunai is different than just using it to serve a purpose. See this?"

She stops twirling the kunai and does a fancy hand trick to get a better hold. Her other hand grabs four shuriken and throw without missing a beat. Shortly after, a kunai rips through the air, collecting the shuriken and landing directly in the center. The four shuriken, pierced in the middle by the kunai, wiggles slightly.

"If you saw that, I threw the shuriken sideways and to an angle. It's... really tough to get shuriken completely together in one throw, so when I throw the kunai, I had already compensated for gaps in between shuriken, aimed for their middle, and also aimed for the target's center. Both weapons were thrown at a curve. In action, most see a straight line of travel."

My jaw drops. "...wow."

Nishi smirks at my expression. "It's not impossible... but if you're not a genius, you'll have to work for it. If you ask a random ninja on a street to do that, they can't. Doing something like that requires a special understanding. And, besides, what good does the trick do in combat?

"If you were a master, being able to do this means if an opponent is throwing shuriken, you can not only eliminate the threat of shuriken without getting close to the opponent, but you can also wound the opponent in more ways than one."

I stare at the kunai, almost graceful with the four shuriken trapped on it like deadly rings on a finger. It looks so easy... but I know it can't be.

"So... what if your opponent... isn't good at throwing shuriken? That... one kunai can't get them all, right?"

"If they're that bad, just use a kunai per shuriken. You can safely throw up to three per hand," she replies easily.

"But... that means three kunai... one hand... three directions."

Nishi grins wide. "_See_? Only those who master kunai care to understand things like that. It's different to throw kunai to just stab a person, but to use kunai to prevent a terrible shuriken thrower takes a bit more brains.

"Only masters can make those fast calculations. So if you're in a battle, don't be stupid. Do the easy thing: dodge or deflect. This skill is something I'd do."

Five months after beginning, I'm able to make good progress on my Shuriken Techniques. My throws aren't horrible. They all hit the target. Sure, it's nowhere near the center when I try hard, but it's progress nonetheless.

The routine becomes so engrained in my system, I start dreaming of our practices while I sleep. Sometimes I forget if I can do things in reality or in my dreams.

(Ah, actually, I'm rarely sore in my dreams.)

"Hey, An-_chan_, you're walking a little funny." Sayaka pats my bad shoulder from behind, making wince. "Are you sore? Ahh! That's so cute! Look at the little hardworker!"

She pinches my cheeks and stretches them like taffy.

I push her hands away. "...don't you have work to do?"

"Eh? Like what? I'm not on a mission and my teammates don't need me. What else can I do but love my An-chan?"

"Didn't Mom... put you in charge of the Minakura Clan emblem?"

It's Gramma's goal to have a clan, with is why so many people live in this home together-eight people. All I know is that Granpa would've wanted the Minakura to be something more than a mere family. It makes sense after all. We are the largest provider of civilian-nin services.

That _also_ means it's an unspoken certainty that all offspring will have children and return them to become members of the Minakura Clan. Thankfully because marriage exists and the outside world is diverse, there is no chance of intermarriage. I don't think Gramma cares about the so-called "purity" of Minakura members like a Hyuuga might.

Sayaka gasps and races to her room. Being as creative and fashionable as she, she was chosen to create the new logo. We have yet to _see_ a prototype, however. Days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months. Still no prototype.

It's also the seventh month of my training when Nishi teaches me another weapon.

"I thought about this hard," she frowns. "The only weapon I can trust you with without hurting yourself is a staff."

She gives me a pole that stands half a head taller than me. The oak staff is weighted and has tapered ends. It's rough enough so that it doesn't slide through my fingers too easily.

"There's no blades and it's not too heavy. If you hit yourself, you probably won't need to go to the hospital. Plus, it's slightly more ranged than a sword, so you can keep your distance and use Shuriken Techniques."

"Ah," I comment. "What if... I fight someone who has a sword?"

"What _about_ it? Isn't obvious? If it's a single blade, attack the unsharped edge. If not, attack the flat face. I don't know if you read weird stories, but don't use a staff to hit a sword's sharpened edge or point. At least, not this version."

Curious, I say, "Can... some staffs be used against swords?"

"Oh, duh. But I don't want you worry about trying to fight a sword with a staff, just use it for its intended purpose." Nishi points to the side of her head. "The staff is made to cripple without being as violent or dangerous as a sword. A master only aims for weak areas of the body like the temple, nose, eyes, neck, diaphragm, stomach, groin, and knees. Every ninja knows if you're worth anything, you're aiming to cripple them, so they'll stop you. To beat this, it's your job to confuse 'em."

Nishi has own own staff that stands a bit above her height. "Those fancy spins you see are there to confuse the enemy. And because you're keeping your staff in motion, it's way easier to block enemy attacks. If you don't spin, you'll just be deliberately telegraphing to your enemy where you'll hit next, giving them the advantage and ability to counterattack. Alright, dodge me."

Nishi picks up and lowers the staff. I move out the way before it hits me.

"Excellent. Dodge this next."

Nishi spins the staff faster and faster. She twirls it behind her back, switches hands. Spins with the staff, spinning and—

My shoulder _hurts_. I grab it, watching her still.

"Your reaction speed is slow," Nishi says.

"Ow," I complain.

"You'll be fine. Today, we'll work on holding, stances, and basic techniques. If it makes you feel better, that includes spinning."

Holding, stances, and basic strikes are easy. With the staff training, Nishi teaches me _forms_ which combine different stances and strikes and has me striking imaginary enemies. I'm slow and lack much power, but Nishi keeps telling me my form is excellent for what it's worth.

Spinning, though, is hard. It's heavy and awkward. Not to mention how much spinning requires my entire body 's muscles, not just upper body. If my lower body is the slightest bit unbalanced, I'll topple over.

Even so, I keep going.

I can't let myself give up _now_.

Thrust. Thrust. Strike. Turn. Horse stance. Thurst. Thurst. Strike. Crouch. Reverse thrust. Horse stance.

I imagine I'm hitting really mean people who also happen to be very incompetent ninja. Nishi tells me if I don't visualize where each hit will land on a person, then it's as good as me passively learning the weapon. Then I won't know what to do in a real fight.

When my back and legs hurt, I move on to Shuriken Techniques, still vying for perfect accuracy. Everyday, I get closer and closer. I want to ask my body why can't it just do it _today_... but I doubt I'll get a response.

When I'm tired, I doze off.

Somehow, every single time I do, Nishi is there to wake me up.

"We need to keep your training moving," she says today. "Please tell me you've been working on chakra control and hand signs in your free time. I gave you so many months so you wouldn't be rushed, sleepy."

I nod and yawn. Chakra control lessons are easy when I have such a small reserve. I can feel such a tiny, hardly intense energy spiraling within my core. Sometimes that energy expands to reach my arms and fingers, my legs and toes, but it's all so itty- bitty it feels like it's hardly there. And because I don't have much chakra, corresponding hand signs with the movement of my energies took a long time. I couldn't manoeuvre my chakra to more than three signs in a day without fatigue.

"Good. Okay. At this rate, you might not be strong enough. You're doing fine, but a few months of exercise isn't the same as starting since you were three. So, you're going to add chakra into your weapons to help."

She puts shuriken and kunai between us. "Chakra adds a bit more power and force you can't do. If you need perfect accuracy but know you're not going to get it, add a bit of push from chakra. You'll likely get that perfect mark. This isn't as easy as it sounds. If the chakra doesn't hit the weapon evenly... just like if you don't apply an even force, your throw is wasted and more deadly because you have a powerful force in effect. Example—"

She puts a shuriken in her palm. A light blue color covers the weapon and her hand. As if a ghost took it, the shuriken launches itself to the target, perfect accuracy. "That's if you're _really_ tied up or want to be extra sneaky. You'll be learning how to throw weapons with a touch a chakra."

"How much chakra... would this take?"

"That's why we're learning this early. You don't have much chakra, so make your throws count. This is exactly like using Ninja Techniques—you don't get the chakra back. How much it takes depends solely on your chakra control and the size of the weapon. Do you want to do the easy route and use shuriken or is it the hard route with kunai?"

"No both?"

"'Fraid not. If your chakra gets too low, your body can't recover properly. You'll do more harm than good, sleepy. Now, choose."

Shuriken or kunai? Shuriken or kunai...? I clench my fists in thought. Knowing Nishi is watching makes me more nervous.

Shuriken is best but I want to push myself. I have so much so lose if I don't make it into the Academy.

If I use kunai, I can't throw much of them at all.

Decisions, decisions.

What would Nishi want me to do?

I rack my brain but just her harsh words enter my mind. The only few things I remember not being so _Nishi_ is when she was first teaching me about weapons, about their points.

...ah.

_"...Most ninja prefer to use a big point, much like a Jounin can do A- through D-Ranks easily, but sometimes it does the job so well, you'll probably end up hurting people far worse than using a small point."_

"...Sensei, if I can master kunai... won't it be simple mastering shuriken? Instead of... working my way up? Like a Jounin-level ninja... can do a D-Rank with ease."

"Well, I learned shuriken to kunai," she says, face expressionless. "I can't say it's easier, although I do know my ability to add chakra to shuriken improved once I learned to add chakra to my kunai."

"Kunai," I decide.

"Don't overwork yourself..." Nishi pauses, brown darting around. "Er, even more so than usual. It's your butt if you don't make it."

Nishi describes it as wrapping the weapon with a layer of chakra so it'll react more easily than just pushing it out my hand, then using the rest of my chakra to eject it. The force of chakra has to balance.

...as soon as I try it out, my kunai spins madly in the air. We both run for cover.

My routine is so tightly managed that a rainy day, a chilly day, and even a snowy can't stop me from coming to the store if it's not a rest day. Nishi, however, doesn't come and teach me if it's too bad. She just closes her shop once letting me in and goes upstairs to her living quarters.

Since the weapons den is below ground, it gets cold real easily. I have to work out for a while before the cold fades away, but sometimes I forget it's chilly until I touch the freezing weapons.

I show up to practice sick three times. All Nishi orders for me to do is to practice meditating and review. Also, to do everything I can to stop being sick.

_Why is working so hard?_

* * *

**small steps chapter 3 **| _working_

* * *

"Accuracy, fitness training, Shuriken Techniques, Staff Techniques," Nishi counts. She hums to herself, tapping her fingers on the table. "Okay, I don't trust you with anything too risky, heavy, and bladed. That disqualifies most weapons except for one."

"Huh," I comment. _A weapons apprentice who can't use actually weapons._

"You'll need this!" Nishi gives me four metal rings. They are heavier than they look, made out of iron or steel. A small tab is edged onto the sides. "These types of rings are called rope rings. Guess what they're for?"

"Rope?"

Nishi places the rings on my middle fingers. "Rope, cord, or ninja wire, actually. This helps a wimp like you keep a solid grip."

"Wow..."

"I don't need your sass," Nishi says. "Anyway, for someone like you, if you get into a fight, you're better off running away. But since you have something to prove, you probably won't. That's why I'm teaching you Rope Techniques. Because, technically, a rope is a weapon because it's a tool."

"Oh," I comment.

"Don't think I can't tell you're judging me! Look, it's the art of restraining people! A ninja can't really hurt you if they can't move."

"But... a ninja can just use the Replacement Technique, or anything, really... to escape."

"No duh. You're not actually using regular rope. Well, you should for non-ninja. But for ninja, you need rope that stays. Chakra attracted rope. As the name implies, yours truly has made rope that binds to a person's chakra, meaning techniques like Replacement or Body Flicker will carry the rope with it. Its only flaw is that it doesn't work on any clone technique. That is to say, the rope sticks to the chakra of the clone and falls apart when the clone disappears."

Oh, _now_ I'm intrigued. "Ninja should use that more often..."

"Please, ninja who _want_ to learn Rope Techniques are as rare as Illusion or Sealing specialists. And there's nothing flashy about flinging a rope, you know. But if you're my pupil, you need to start flaunting my products for Lord Hokage!"

To start, Nishi teaches me fundamentals tying and the strengths and limitations of rope (which starts to get into physics and hurt my brain). She then brings me a full body training dummy trapped in the rope technique of the day where I am supposed to analyze how the rope was used to bind.

She then tosses me a rope. "Your tuuuurn!"

With a weary look, I step forward-

"No, sleepy, that's not how this works. Use your chakra to take this rope and tie it." My face must telegraph my confusion. That or my stillness. "Look, an average ninja would just use chakra to create weapon. That takes a lot, so all you're doing is using already existing rope. It's like how Lord Tobirama had the option to create water or use existing water for techniques."

_Ohhhhh._ Of course.

The technique on the dummy falls under _fast rope_ techniques: a quick hold for a short period. The binding falls under informal with a short rope length and few complicated ties. I'm pretty sure a _kimono_ has more ties than this. Six hand seals are necessary for any fast rope technique but each time the chakra moves differently.

I imbue my chakra into the rope, feeling the inner workings and threads like muscles and _visualize_ the simple binding. Satisfied, I mold the chakra to take away the rope in a puff of smoke and, soon appears once I lose a far amount of chakra.

We both judge the result, trading a blank look.

"Um," I say, kinda woozy, looking over to my teacher for confirmation.

"The knots are nice, but... the rope has to be _on_ the person."

The rope is tied perfectly... just not on the dummy's body at all.

I'm only able to learn many informal fast rope binds and one and a half formal fast rope binds before Nishi agrees to teach me more at later date.

* * *

**small steps chapter 3 **| _working_

* * *

My ninth birthday passes and my tenth is eight months away. With my first year skipping out the Ninja Academy entrance exam, Nishi continues to teach me as she sees fit.

"Your upper body strength isn't poor, but I doubt you're a puncher." Nishi turns my hand into a fist. "The inside of your hand is adapted to being abused by weapons. The outside is still weak and soft. No point in teaching you punching because you need years to build a resistance and withstand the force. Or you'll just break all your fingers. That's why we'll focus on your feet. After all, they're abused every day and they're protected by shoes. It's more efficient that way."

Nishi teaches me balancing exercises before going into basic kicking martial arts.

"Rule number one of kicking," she says, "kick and recoil. If you leave your leg dangling for the world to see, someone will grab and probably break or stab your leg. I cannot stress this enough. When you kick, bring your foot back."

I don't think I've ever seen others do that.

(But experts can break the rules, though...)

"Listen, I'm not a pro at this, so I'll teach you enough to learn on your own," Nishi admits. "Learning to kick and use a staff with both hands will make you kind of a complete package, so keep that in mind."

The stances for kicking are still the same thing. I balance on the balls of my feet, knees bent, body loose yet sturdy. From there, I can do basic kicks.

Kicking requires precision and power. It's not enough to throw my foot out and hope for the best. The smoother my body moves, the more precise I can aim. The more sturdy my body is, the more power. In this style of kicking, the goal is the land hits using the foot, shin, and knee with the most power covering the least amount of surface area.

Once I get the basics down, I add weapons. When my muscle memory starts to grow, Nishi and I spar to practice.

And when my tenth birthday is two months away, I keep quiet about it. Because that would mean...

"The entrance exam for the Academy is almost here," Nishi says to me on a rest day. "Do you understand how it works?"

I shake my head.

(Does she _really_ think I'm ready?)

I would think after so long... so much hard work and sacrifice I would be excited. Yet if I'm working twice as hard to get half as far... I could be reaching the end of my dream.

(Nishi would be so disappointed in me if I fail...)

"Kids with potential show up and tell adults who they are and what they can do," Nishi says, explaining the exam. "Adults decide if the kid is worth their time and move them on. You perform solo in one of many rooms led by an Academy teacher. Then they all pool their results, select their kids they want or get stuck with the ones they don't want, and any kids who aren't picked... go home."

"Hmm," I say.

"If the Ninja Academy wants you as a student, you _do_ realize that you'll need a guardian to register you in at that point. For example... parents who don't want you to be a ninja."

I look at the door. "Oh. _No_."

* * *

**small steps chapter 3 **| _working_

* * *

Rope Techniques are called _hojoujutsu_. I emphasize this because many Japanese now use the technique for erotic binding and so searching rope techniques won't yield the same results as its true name. But back in the days, it was a form of torture and interrogation. So... well, _rope_ can't really have good connotations, can it?

Rope Techniques learning was inspired by one of the very early episodes of _Naruto_ when Naruto used the skill to bind _Sasuke Uchiha_ for a good while. Third episode to be precise. (Man I wish those funky new techniques were used more...)


	4. 00:04

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**young akemi-chan:** _trust_

**years til nine tails:** 8_ years, 6 months_

**akemi:** 9_ years, 11 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

"Mom," I say, "I'm going to be a ninja."

Mom stops washing the dishes. She turns to me, face so pale it's blue. "My baby girl! She's going to die! She'll kill herself! Oh, please, Gods, I should have never let her outside!"

"M-Mom...?"

Mom clutches my shoulders. "You're never leaving ever! I'll lock you up in the room and you'll never escape. Don't you know you'll be safer in there?"

"M-Mom..."

"I don't want to hear it! You're banished to your room! Banned, banned, _banned_!"

I wake myself.

(That was a scary dream...)

_If I pass the entrance exam, I still need Mom's permission to let me attend the Academy..._

Problem is, I've been hiding my training for nearly _two years_.

(Mom won't be happy I lied, she'll never ever let me go—)

It was easy to hide my lean body under baggy clothes. It's easy to attribute my hunger and soreness for "working" in Nishi's shop all day. There is _no_ way I can get away with going to the Ninja Academy, let alone becoming a Genin should I graduate.

I. Need. Help.

_Who can help me with Mom, though?_

I think and think. Only _one_ person can fight the ball of extreme compassion.

I knock on her sliding door and mutter, "Excuse me." I slide it open to see Gramma.

At this time of night, she's always outside in the garden. The bluish sky makes her loose _yukata_ dress pink instead of peach, but her silvery white hair in short curls remains unaffected. She looks up from watering her plants to see me approaching. Two round glasses lens shields her eyes. It makes her no less welcoming.

"Good evening... Gramma."

The proper title for her is Grandmother. It's respectful since she's the woman who began the Minakura Clan.

Er, the up and coming Minakura Clan.

Gramma told us how much Granpa-formally, Grandfather-wanted to have a clan of his own. He died long before it. It was so long ago, only Mom, Dad, and my aunt had been kids when attending his funeral.

Gramma ensures his dream _will _come true.

I truly do respect my grandmother, but I don't like the length and effort of that name. I shortened it. Gramma doesn't mind.

(Being the baby of the family has its perks.)

"Ah, if it isn't my sleepy red panda," Gramma smiles. "So glad you decided to randomly talk to me."

Ha... in my defense, I'm not a very talkative person around my family. But I grab a watering can and pour a silver stream of water on the dryer plants for a while. As the crescent moon moves behind the walls of the house, Gramma instructs me to bend down and make sure no plants have mildew from today's heat spell. Mostly hidden from her gaze, I finally speak.

"Um, well it's... I need... Gramma, you're strong... I need that strength."

That could have gone worse.

"Oh?" To my relief, Gramma sounds very amused. "My strength? But, red panda, aren't you getting stronger nowadays?"

I'm wearing an oversized sweater, so there's no way... I look and look through the chunky knit, light yellow garment but nothing gives it away.

Gramma laughs. "Maybe the others see you as a delicate bud, but I see you as who you are. There's a strength guiding you that's never been there before. Oh, how strong it is. It's almost as if the red panda I knew almost a year ago is completely changed."

I wrap my arms around my body and stare at my toes. I've always been _me_. Never have I showed anyone what's really on my mind until recently.

"...Gramma, you're so wise," I grumble. "How could you know...?"

"It's easy, dear."

A cheeky grin crosses Gramma's chubby, wrinkled face.

"I followed you and listened to that Nishi girl teach you," she says. "After all... I haven't been able to test my ninja skills out recently. Here, how do you like this?"

In explosion of leaves and old lady perfume, in Gramma's place is a young man holding up a one-of-a-kind Nishi brand dagger. She doesn't hold the form long.

"A-A-Ah..."

How could I forget?

This old woman isn't as sweet as she seems. When I was seven, she tricked me into thinking she was a man for a week. When I was eight, she pretended to be dead two weeks just to see how we'd react. When she thought we reacted good enough, she returned. When I was really young, I heard that Gramma alone was good enough to defend my cousins and me while the adults helped during the Second Great Shinobi War. One night, a burglar snuck in and Gramma supposedly humiliated and spanked him.

In short, I fear the person who gets on Gramma's bad side.

"It's not as if I don't trust you," Gramma says, now her normal self. "You're still so very naive, child. Think of it as extra assistance!"

I exhale. "...maybe."

"So, since you obviously want something, it probably has something to do with you and the Ninja Academy and your mother, huh?"

I nod.

"To be frank... no amount of reasoning will convince her. Your mother protects you because of her emotions. Nothing is more unreasonable than that. If you want to get something done, make a bet she can't back out of."

A devious smirk adorns her face. Worriedly, I say, "Is that so...?"

"If you can do _this_, your mother has to let you do _that_. But if you cannot, you will do _this_ for your Mother. Just like that. It has to be something she can't refuse and will be willing to risk. For example... your complete safety."

I nod. I expected this. "Thank you. But, Gramma...? I don't think I can talk to her alone."

She sighs pleasantly. "A matriarch's work is never done!"

Gramma and I ambush Mom on her way to her office the next day. Mom immediately looks wary. "Grandmother? You're walking again? You should really rest."

Gramma tucks her hands in her huge sleeves, smiling. "Hanae, we need to have a serious discussion."

"_What_? Oh no, is someone dying?" Mom holds a hand over her heart.

"Not that serious. It is about your little one. She has done something very important."

I duck behind Gramma's dress before I can see Mom's expression.

"Our little girl wants to try the Ninja Academy entrance exam."

Silence.

A bird chirps. A breeze toys with leaves.

"_Excuse me_?!"

My mother's girly scream echoes through the house.

Mom is panting heavily. "That's—unacceptable! We know she's different from other children! She's a bit sick. She can't hold herself to those high standards! Oh, Grandmother, you must not amuse her; she's only ten!"

"Relax, relax... let me finish."

Out of politeness, Mom hushes up. But she looks eager to keep talking.

"A newfound light burns bright in our girl. Don't tell me you haven't noticed a change. She is not as sluggish nor careless. She wakes with a purpose and sleeps satisfied. I personally believe in letting her follow this light, but I will not lecture your mothering style. All I ask is that you heed an ultimatum."

Mom looks a thousand years old. "Okay... tell me, Grandmother."

"Let her take the entrance exam. If she fails like you'd expect her to, she agrees to never do shinobi arts or civilian-nin missions. She will assist you here, where it is the safest. However... should she pass the exam, you will allow her to become a kunoichi. How does this sound?"

Mom trembles. "You _know_ there's no way she'll pass! She's too gentle..."

"Hanae, please..."

"_Ohhh_! I do not like this one bit! Take the exam but please do not hurt yourself! Ahhh! What if they push her too hard? Which if she pushes herself too hard? Does she know her limits? I bet if I were her, I'd disregard those limits just to push myself! If she does, she'll actually hurt herself... Oh my poor baby, I can't see you in the hospital again! And if you were to die, I _can't_... my heart will break...!"

Gramma and I wince.

"There's no stopping this," Gramma states.

I nod once.

Gramma breathes in resolutely. "We need to run!"

I _run_ but Gramma still races past and pushes me out the way, leaving me in the dust in the hallway. From far away, I can hear my mother's paranoid ramblings in the beginning of what we dub her "worry meltdown".

My mother cares a lot. Too much. When she worries, she _worries_. Her worries are so realistic, so graphic, so utterly convincing, and so utterly cynical that, if anyone listens too long, a person will have their happiness and optimistic sucked out until nothing but a neurotic shell remains.

We have a theory her chakra leaks out and negatively affects her surroundings like a anxiety based Killing Intent. An _Anxiety Intent_, if we may. No one has found a solution other than these three steps: prevent the worry meltdown, save yourself during a worry meltdown, and throw Dad at her.

For some reason, Mom's worry meltdowns never affect Dad.

We fairly normal people... we run.

I make to Nishi's store on my rest day. Nishi is actually very surprised to see me, saying, "Did you forget what today is?"

I shake my head. "About the Ninja Academy... I dealt with it."

"Oh! And? What happened?"

"I can do it but... Mom is having a worry meltdown."

Nishi inhales slowly. "By Gods, you weren't lying before."

I explain to Nishi my situation.

"Ah, you have a lot to lose," she says. "I guess this is your all or nothing. I mean, you're asking me, your mom, your family... to trust you enough for this chance even though you don't seem fit for it at all. It's even worse because you're relying on a death omen. Look, I'm no god or superhuman, I'm just normal. I can't make the impossible... possible."

"Uh-huh... I understand, Nishi-sensei."

It's all down to me. Nishi can teach me all she wants. If I don't learn and don't show those ninja I have a chance, it's really all my fault.

I keep that mindset up until the day of the Ninja Academy entrance exam.

Nishi is at my side since Mom couldn't bear to come. In Mom's words, it sounds like I'm walking to my death, or something.

We get here pretty early but it's still really packed with kids.

Nishi sighs. "This never changes. Most people who come are kids with no clans and small families. They've got nothing to lose because nobody expects much from them. Meanwhile, children from clans and notable clans rarely fail to get admitted."

"Hey... don't you know... the Minakura Clan is a clan, too," I say.

"Not really. You're just at that big family stage." She pats my head. "Keep trying."

As the early morning progresses, the kids enter the Academy alone. The building is huge and buzzing with energy. Mostly all the adults wear their standard Leaf uniform and look kinda cool. No adult is actually armed with anything, but I'm still sure they can defend their kids when the need arises.

I tell my information to an adult who writes it all down extremely quickly, only slowing down when I'm trying to find the right ideograms to spell words with.

"You're from Maple Village? Not the Leaf?" His voice is loud and harsh, instantly worrying me.

"...I can't do the exam?"

(Is this the end of my dreams?)

"If it's the place with the blood trees and Mist ninja," he starts, "then it's fine. That's one of the officially recognized Leaf territories, anyway. Just note no matter where your live, your loyalty to the Leaf is stronger your loyalty anywhere else. Disobey that rule and that will make you a traitor. That is very, very bad."

I shiver. "Y-Yes, sir..."

Carrying my papers and looking from left to right to see my room number, I try to find my exam room. As I walk, kids who find their rooms enter and the door slides ominously shut behind them. Some kids are waiting in a line outside their door, practicing, chatting... very few are nervous and fearful.

When I get to my room, the door is open and an average man with glasses and a bandanna meets my eyes. I probably looked a bit too obvious during my search.

"Can I see those papers?" he says gently. Reading through them, he nods. "Looks like you're the first one today! Are you ready to begin?"

_My legs feel like jelly. Should I have eaten breakfast? I feel like it's going to make a reappearance soon..._

I frown at the room. "...I have a lot to lose."

"Eh?" He scratches the back of his head. "Well... maybe so. But you never know, you could get in."

"If don't... I can't ever come back here... I promised."

"Well then, let's do our best instead of worrying!" Smiling encouragingly, he guides me into the room. I'm momentarily energized from it until he closes the door and I'm realized I'm trapped with three teachers.

I step in front of their big desk, feeling the sweat pouring down my back.

"Good morning," says the sunglasses-wearing man on the left, holding himself with a solemn rigidity. "Before we begin, you'll have to understand the Ninja Academy pledge." He hands me a sheet of paper. "You will swear by the pledge. To do so, read from the paper. Clearly."

_As a ninja of the Village Hidden by Leaves,_

_I will be healthy in both mind and body,_

_I will have a spirit able to endure hard work,_

_I will have love and respect for my village._

_When I am inside the Academy, I will embody_

_Teamwork and the hope for peace and village prosperity._

_This pledge is so old_, I think, _the ideograms used to spell the Leaf Village are older than me._

I swear by the pledge and then the elegant lady in the middle speaks. "Very good. Now, we will test your ability to learn the ninja arts. With every part to the exam, you will get three votes. Votes are from one to three, with one standing for definite potential, two standing for possible potential, and three standing for no potential at all. In short, three is good and one is not so good. If you find yourself with all threes, it may not be bad. However... please do your best."

(At least they're honest...)

"We will begin with testing the body for Body Techniques. When I give you an exercise to do, do as much as you can before quitting. The more you are able to do or the better your technique will lead to ones."

It's the basics: push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, et cetera. I had done these with a weight steadily increasing but never growing impossibly heavy, so I end up doing more than I predicted without a weight.

Still... the ninja teachers are completely expressionless.

"Good. A ninja must have control over their own chakra so that they may perform Ninja Techniques. Please mold your chakra. You must close your eyes and meditate."

What? No techniques? I do as she says... focusing on my core and get the spiritual and physical energies spiraling together. I seriously lack chakra, so I can't afford to waste any of it.

"What do you see?" the woman says.

"Very, very low amount of chakra. Lower than most civilians. Slow moving and unbalanced. The spiritual energy differs greatly from physical energy, a gap made worse because she is female. She'll need specialized help to mend the balance. Other than that, control is superb."

"Very good. You may stop now."

I open my eyes and nothing seems off with them. _Hyuuga? _The man's forehead is covered by his forehead protector, looking perfectly average. His tree trunk colored hair is very thin and not long at all. Not ponytail length.

"Can you perform any Ninja Techniques?" says the woman.

"Um..." I dig into my overstuffed pocket and grab origami shuriken. Nishi made them for me, just in case this moment arises. Adding chakra to flimsy paper-based weapons is a lot harder than adding it to a hard to change metal. With four shuriken in my hand, I throw the chakra covered paper, feeling remarkably like Konan. Without much of a distance between the shuriken, they all strike the desk. "Does that count...?"

"If you're using chakra, then it's certainly a Ninja Technique. Is that all?"

They still seem so unimpressed though...

I stick the paper to my hand. "...and that's it."

They write so quickly I can't tell what number they put.

The man who invited me inside speaks. "Do you have anything else you can show us? If not, the exam will end."

"Uh... um..."

I don't feel confident at all. I _can't_ leave like this.

"Weapons Techniques... I can do that."

"Hm?"

"I can do... Shuriken Techniques... I can use a staff and kunai..."

The man looks over the woman to the oldest man. "May I?"

The man doesn't spare him a glance. "Go ahead."

In it is a small wooden target the size of a head, a few shuriken and kunai, and a staff... among other things.

"Let's see your skills," he smiles.

With weapons in my hands, I feel slightly more prepared.

If I just throw these weapons, they'll like my accuracy, right? Or... what if I've been so unremarkable that this is my last chance to get a two or one? I can't settle for just barely squeezing by.

_"__That's why you're going to master this."_

_"Eh? But... it's so easy to use..."_

_"I know that. But mastering a kunai is different than just using it to serve a purpose. See this?"_

Nishi stopped twirling the kunai and did a fancy hand trick to get a better hold. Her other hand grabbed four shuriken and threw without missing a beat. Soon the kunai was flying and on the center of the target was four shuriken pierced in the middle by the kunai.

_Nishi showed me that day the level between masters and those who just use kunai_, I think.

If I can do that too... I'll definitely get a one.

Still, I had practiced doing what she did for months. She explained it to me, but it's also something that just sort of clicks in the mind.

_Hm. If I can't do it with four, maybe two will be fine?_

Satisfied with at least two points, I hold my four shuriken and two kunai. The target is higher up and farther away than what I'm used to. But this target has the same diameter as the target's centermost dot.

The shuriken go flying at first, thrown at an angle to that they are not parallel to the ground. A blue glow covers the kunai as I throw them too, watching as the energy powers them like I never could. The two higher shuriken are pierced, the two lower shuriken are pierced. Both are make a small curve in the sky that, to my eyes, looks like a straight line to the center of the target.

There, two pairs of shuriken rock against the kunai points like a wind chime.

(I did it...)

It's nothing as cool as what Nishi had done... but I did it on my own. I'm proud.

I pick up the staff and test it. It's a demo staff, so it's very light and hollow. It's easy to do fast spins and strike knowing full well something like this would break almost instantly in a real fight.

When I'm too exhausted to continue, I stop and try to fight my creeping sleepiness.

The man on the left and the woman are impassive. The man on the right smiles slightly, saying, "Is that it?"

After hesitating, I nod.

"By sunset, the board with the names of children who will attend the Academy will be posted. You'll attend the entrance ceremony and begin your lessons. If you fail to make it, you may always try again next year..." He suddenly trails off. With a few looks from his colleagues, he shakes his head. "Thank you for today. No matter happens, know that Lord Hokage is proud of your bravery and passion."

I nod and hurry to let myself out before fear paralyzes me.

Nishi is still waiting outside, parasol the same deep red color as her outfit. "Ah, sleepy, how'd it go?"

I stop just before her, trying to forget the impulse to hug her. "I don't know... I'm scared."

"Well... if you gave this your all, don't regret that you don't make it. You're just following a crazy, slightly impossible dream."

"If I fail... your weapons brand."

"I can always hire people or blackmail my old Academy classmates. They were all jerks to me anyway." She glares at the Academy buildings. "I hate this place. Let's go get some food while we wait."

By "food", Nishi orders Earl Grey tea while I settle for occasionally drinking my white tea.

At one point, with the teacup covering her mouth, she calls my name. When I watch her, she's looking away, furrowed brows twitching. "Hey, er... you know, you did good, sleepy. So there's that."

Wh-_What_? I'm certain her tea doesn't have alcohol in it, so what's with the one-eighty flip?

"Nishi-sensei," I say cautiously, "are you... okay?"

Deadly precise, her teacup spoon hits my forehead. "Nevermind what I said! You're completely hopeless!"

I spend the rest of the day trying to distract myself with sleeping or eating until Nishi drags me back to the Academy to wait among the crowd for the board. I feel like I'll pee myself from the nerves and _then_ the board comes out. People lunge for it like it's a lifeline. It probably is, honestly.

"Go look for your name," Nishi says, nudging me slightly.

"Come with me...?" I plead, almost childishly.

"Um, did you forget? I'm Deadly Nishi. I'm already getting rude looks for being here. Off you go."

My feet won't move.

"Agh, sleepy, I really can't go! I don't even know your name and it might be really unlucky to have me there! I mean, with my name, I could be the death of your dream. So, you have to go by yourself. It's the least I can do!"

Still... no moving. The crowd is almost completely gone. I don't dare look at the board long enough to read names.

"Is there something wrong?"

I look up at the familiar voice: the man who judged me looks between us two, curious eyes recognizing me.

Nishi pushes me to him. "Take that girl and go to the board. She's too scared to go alone."

(Nishi-sensei, did you have to tell him all that?)

"That's no problem, let's go see then." Taking my hand, I have no choice but to follow him, least I be seen as rude.

The board stares back at us.

"Let's see... your name... I'm sure I remember it."

"You judged me..." I mumble. "So, can't you tell me... if I did good at all? Do we h-have... to worry about... finding my name... on this board?"

He's stunned silent for a moment. "'Minakura,' isn't it? Your last name?"

"...uh-huh."

(What if he's too afraid to tell me my dream is over?)

"And written in Hiragana is your first name, correct?"

"...uh-huh."

"You know, you're a very... not normal case. You're probably one of the oldest children to try out. Most of the little ones are seven. You'd expect that at ten, you'd be overprepared, but that isn't the case for you. Typically, no matter the age, each year has strict needs of what the ninja can do. For example, we had a student who could only do Body Techniques two years ago. There was no need for a ninja who could only do one skill. Even so, he was admitted on alternate sheet thanks to one teacher. That means he still was accepted due to open spots."

_Why is he monologuing instead of just telling me my future is over? This is too cruel..._

"I'd like to think if all went well, you'd definitely be at a third year level. That's not to say you're advanced in anyway. It's simply means you have the same aptitude as third years. Putting you in first or second would only bore and harm you. And putting you in fourth or fifth year will be too difficult. That would mean if you were accepted, you'd have to find a third year teacher willing to take you in. Because, in the end, you aren't a hopeless case."

A surprised noise bursts from me before I can stop it.

"If I were a third year teacher," he continues, keeping his gaze on the board, "I would see your Body Techniques as okay, since you are older, so your body can handle things most third years can't. Your Ninja Techniques will need lots of room to grow, so I would be worried to accept you based on that alone. But, your Weapons Techniques, not counting your age, is very good. With a bunch of weapons masters in the Academy, there's no doubt you can become a good ninja. So if I were to pick you, I think your name would be..."

I follow his index finger, watches as he places it just under the _mina_ of my name. Realizing that, my eyes burn.

Then he turns to me. "Ah... there's a Minakura right here. If you are the owner of this name... then I believe you've just passed the Ninja Academy's entrance exam, Akemi Minakura!"

Like flipped switch, I start crying.

"Ah... um, Akemi? It's okay... you did it. Er, did I over do it...?"

"Sleepy! What's wrong? You didn't make it?"

The tears blur my vision too badly to see Nishi.

"No, no, she passed! I mean, just barely... I'm the only teacher who wanted to take a risk with her, so... congratulations!"

"_Ehhhh_?"

When I get home, I barely get the front door open before I see Mom, Sayaka, and Gramma staring at me expectantly.

"Ah," Sayaka breathes, "An-chan's been crying!"

"So has her mother," Gramma says, patting my mom's head who's still sniffing.

"U-Um..." I look away. "So... I didn't hurt myself."

"Y-Yes," Mom says, eyes shining with unreleased tears.

"And... it was kinda scary," I admit, which sounds immature but_ somewhere_ I'm ten. It's _normal_.

"Tell me about it," Sayaka says.

"But in the end..."

Out of my pocket, I pull out my rejection letter.

"Oooh..." Gramma and Sayaka exchange an awkward smile.

"Well," Sayaka says, feigning cheer, "you're dream was kind of on the impossible side. It's okay, An-chan! Your big sister will always be by your side!"

"You're... my cousin," I correct.

Gramma sighs. "It's alright, it's alright. So long as your tried your best. Now that this excitement is finished, let's enjoy dinner together."

Mom's tears disappear. "I'm sorry... I know you wanted this dream. Don't be afraid to keep dreaming... but let's be a bit more realistic, okay?"

I nod. "Yes, Mom."

Later on in my life, while I'm stuck indoors, my family would go on to assist in the Fourth Great Shinobi World War without me. They would tell me stories of how incredible the Fourth Hokage's son Naruto Uzumaki was.

Meanwhile, I would never get to see him.

"Hey, listen to us carefully, you know!"

Sayaka pokes my cheek. She, Gramma, and Mom all wait eagerly to hear the results.

(Wouldn't rejection be some kind of bad end, huh?)

Out of my pocket, I pull out my congratulations letter.

Gramma and Sayaka gasp in surprise, ready to hug me.

Mom... just kinda... collapses.

* * *

**small steps chapter 4 **| _trust_

* * *

So a lot of people might be going "Why do all authors hide their oc names?" and, for me, It's because nobody really acknowledged Akemi as her own thing instead of sickly, very cute, sleepy... it's the ninja judge who's the _only person _who cared enough to see potential in her, and so he called her name first _because_ he's associating her as a full picture instead of nicknames or traits. It's an important step.

_Anyways, her name is written in the chapter titles so it's not as If its a grand reveal._


	5. 01:05

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**academy akemi-chan:** _education_

**years til nine tails:** 8_ years, 6 months_

**akemi:** 9_ years, 11 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

"Still knocked out?" says Sayaka for the twelfth time this night.

Gramma gave me the fan hour ago to blow cool air on Mom's head. She regularly replaces the lukewarm towel on her with a towel soaked by cold water. "Please understand Hanae has had quite a fright today. Did you call your mother?"

Sayaka waves the wrinkled letter. "As soon as she got our letter, she said she bolted for Maple Village."

I shiver.

"Did you tell her what Akemi did?"

"Yup!"

"But not what she did, correct?"

"Yup!"

"I see." Gramma chuckles quite deviously. "If I'm correct, she'll probably forget to punch you, Akemi."

I wince on instinct. I've only ever made Mom cry three times:

Once, when I stopped spending all the day sleeping and truly woke up.

Twice, when I called her name for the first time.

And thrice, this whole affair.

Every time I make Mom cry, her twin sister, my aunt, Hisano Minakura punches me.

Before, she would punch an arm or knock her knuckles against my head. If she knows I'm going to become a ninja, she's not going to hold back anymore.

"Auntie is scary..." I complain.

"It can't helped, though," Sayaka laughs. "I think if you were rejected, Mommy would certainly punch you harder."

My aunt, who I call Auntie, is also Sayaka's mother.

She's not an abusive person at all. It just so happens Auntie made a vow to Mom she'll hit all who make her cry, which sort of meant she'd have to hit family members due to how vague her promise was. Of course, Mom told her to just redo the promise, but Auntie, as prideful as she was, refused.

Judging by her furious strokes and holes torn in the paper, I'm in line for a serious punch.

"I cant wait to go school shopping with An-chan!" Sayaka, having to _be the spawn_ of Auntie, is way more used to the woman than me.

"Oh, that's right," Gramma adds gleefully, "she'll need a lunch box and a nice backpack." She has nothing to worry about. Auntie only modified her vow once: she'll hit anyone with the exclusion of Gramma. Gramma is the only person Auntie fears.

_Mom_, I beg, _why did you have to cry?_

Auntie arrives that morning, hollering so the whole house can hear, "Good morning! Guess who's back from her mission?"

Sayaka happily runs from Mom's room. "Mommy!"

Gramma walks slowly down the stairs with me behind her. When we get to the main room, Sayaka is rambling to Auntie... who locks her eyes on me.

I gulp.

Mom and Auntie are twin sisters, so they share the same charcoal eyes and hair. Auntie's bob is shorter and more angular, though, stopping in line with her nose. Unlike my mother's soft pink robe, Auntie loves her red cropped jacket she keeps zipped up and her ripped baggy pants with bandages that stop midway between her knees and ankles. From her stomach, she's lean enough to where her abs are exposed, which makes seeing her all the more terrifying.

"If it isn't An-chan!" Her voice is the perfect pitch of a stereotypical young boy bully. "Come give Auntie a big hug!"

I wince. "Um... what about an air hug...?"

She snickers. "Aw, so cute! An-chan thinks that hiding from me is gonna work _knowing_ if I wanna punch, _I punch_."

"We understand Akemi made Hanae cry, but think about why she made her cry," Gramma says loud enough to be heard.

Auntie pouts. "Okay. Why?"

Sayaka jumps in without warning anyone, "Oh, An-chan passed the entrance exam to the Ninja Academy yesterday!"

"Woah, woah, woah, _whatty_?" Auntie swivels her head between Sayaka and me. "Did the standards go down? Is it pity? Did she bribe them?"

Sayaka shakes her head blissfully. "It's in the congratulations letter!" With that, she pulls the gold paper from out her sleeve...

Wasn't that in _my_ pocket earlier?

Auntie reads it and her eyes grow comically wide. "H-H-H-_Haaaa_? Third year? Weapons Technique specialty? You sure this is the right girl?"

"It is! Gramma even showed me how much muscle An-chan's been hiding under those baggy clothes of hers when An-chan was sleeping!"

I give Gramma a look of betrayal. She only smiles. "Sayaka didn't believe me."

"Is that so? I wanna see!"

Gramma pushes me back. "Hisano, we know you're going to punch her."

"Can't I look _and_ punch, Grandmother?"

At this point, I just want to get it over with.

Auntie breathes in deeply and huffs. "It's just so hard to believe our aimless and sleepy Akemi did something like this. I mean, what heck's pushing her to do something like this? It's like she's possessed."

"You know," Sayaka adds, "ever since her first successful mission, she's been slightly different. Maybe An-chan want to complete more missions?"

"But even the feeling I got from completing my first mission wasn't enough to change me."

"That is because you are not Akemi. One day when she is ready..." Gramma watches me. "...she will tell us what gives her this impossible strength. I already knew it all along... you've got the blood of a Hidden Leaf Village ninja within you."

I tilt my head to side. We live in Maple Village. They're aren't any Leaf-born ninja in the family. Is it just metaphorical? Is Gramma trying to sound wise again?

"Everybody, _stooop_!"

In the hallway is Mom, still pale, but moving around again.

"Nobody's... doing anything," Auntie says, awkwardly smiling.

"Oh, I guess I'm late, but..." Mom gets her resolve back. "Hisano... you can't punch Akemi!"

"Sorry, but it's my vow. I won't knock her lights out too badly." She punches her open hand so hard, the three zippers on her jacket rock and create a noise almost like a windchime.

...it's somewhat amusing to watch, so Sayaka helpfully stops the zippers. The bead of sweat rolling down the side of Auntie's face is wiped away.

"No, I mean," Mom continues, hands resting on he chest, "if you should punch anyone for making me cry, it's me!"

Auntie looks at my mother as if she'd grown a second head. "_Huh_?"

"That ultimatum..." Mom says meekly, lowering her gaze, "Akemi knew she'd pass. It was only a matter of time before I accepted it. Believe me when I say I don't want her to go down this path. But if this is her dream, then she'll just have to see if it's worth it. There will be so many chances for her to leave the field and if she does, I'll be right at her side. So, in the end, the one to blame for making me cry is my own fear and worry!"

Mom crouches down next to me and pulls me into a tight hug. I forget how special her hugs are. Only my cheek and hands can directly feel the warmth and softness of my mother while the rest of my body is stopped by clothes.

(I want to remember this hug.)

"I can't stand to see you hurting or aching—not after I spent so many years scared you were damaged. I'm so happy you're growing, but you can't forget who you once were. You were a sickly baby who refused to wake up for years. You only improved just five years ago, okay? For your mother's heart, please don't push too hard."

Her heart is racing. Maybe if the wind and birds and villagers were silent... I could hear her heartbeat.

Or maybe it's my own heartbeating as I hug my mother back.

"I understand, Mom."

The magic of the embrace starts wear off the longer it is and the more I hear Auntie softly clearing her throat and Sayaka's gushing.

_Wait, how do I end a hug?_

(_Am I stuck here forever? Um..._)

And as soon as I think that, Mom is trembling.

I say, "Are you... crying?"

Unmistakably, Mom responds, "Noooo!" in a tear-filled voice. "Okay, just a little...! It's my fault, though!"

(My mother is precious.)

The moment is of unforgettable sweetness until Auntie says, "Don't tell Hanae, but I'm gonna punch her for her birthday."

"Th-That's okay!" Mom pulls away and wipes at her eyes. "If it's her birthday, I'm fine..."

Oh.

(I think Mom is little mad, too.)

"...that's fine," I sigh, feeling my mother's warmth still lingering slowly fade away.

Auntie claps her hands together. "Okay, Minakura! It's time to do some school shopping! I got the mission money!"

Mom stands up quickly. "H-Hisano, you can't come!"

"Why not? This is an incredible moment!"

"Because you randomly steal things!"

Auntie is a bit of a klepto.

I was told that for a long time. However, I never noticed until it was my sixth birthday and had gotten a tank of fifteen goldfish. It was supposed to teach me responsibility and compassion... since little kids typically aren't the best at it when young... but I really screwed it up. Sometimes I'd forget I already fed them, so I could fed them up to twenty times a day. Sometimes I forgot to clean the tank good, so certain spots were impossibly dirty.

Within a month under my care, eight brave fish remained.

(Or, as Auntie says, the seven who died were lucky.)

I resolved to do better... but that was hard work and I gave up. I expected more dead fish but I found them to all be alive. No other casualties.

So I thought, _Maybe I _am _doing a good job..._

It wasn't until a year later when Satoshi entered my room to check up on my fish did I realize my fish were replaced with fake goldfish... and that the goldfish Auntie gave _him to cheer him up_ were actually mine.

_It wasn't like An-chan was using them_, Auntie shrugged. _Wasn't like the fish cared, you know?_

"I'll tie my hands together so I can't do nothing," Auntie grins.

"That has never stopped you. I don't know how, but you still stole a snow globe with your hands tied and eyes blinded!"

Auntie looks off into the distance. "Me neither..."

"I'll watch Auntie if we go shopping!" Sayaka vouches.

"You'll just get distracted by fashionable things," Mom says, "or Akemi's adorableness."

Sayaka lowers her hand still smiling brightly. "Guilty is chaaarged!"

How we managed to go school shopping in the past for Sayaka and Satoshi, I'll never know. In the end, Gramma, Mom, and I go shopping (with Mom fighting tears in the checkout line) and by next week, Mom is walking me to the Academy for my first day of ninja school.

_Should I be nervous right now?_ It's a bright and happy day and I don't feel the slightest bit anxious.

Mom, on the other hand, can't stop mumbling anxieties up until the Third Hokage appears before all Academy students and us, chakra radiating warmly in the air, maybe as a nice form of Killing Intent.

I want to sit in the small square with the rest of the kids, but Mom can't let go of my hand. I watch from afar.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is so much younger than I expected. His robes are just beginning to dwarf his figure. The smell of tobacco is very light and his dark eyes shine with warmth.

I don't stay awake for his speech long, however I do wake up to see the excitement on all the kid's faces. Mom hesitantly releases me.

"Be safe, okay?" she says. "I'll be here when you need me."

I nod, hug her briefly, and head upstairs to the third years floor. The door to my classroom is open and the kids inside are talking, not really paying attention to me entering. I can't help but to notice something very crucial.

(Oh bunny gods... _thank you_.)

The only teacher who wanted me... was the same teacher who believed in the son of the Eternal Genin. If that son was in this class, then...

Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, Hayate, Ebisu, Raidou, Rin...

They are all my classmates.

And... that means... Obito and Kakashi, although I don't see them. No... Kakashi should be already graduated.

Ah.

I'm very, very nervous.

Wh-Wh-Wh-What am I supposed to do with this knowledge?

I mean... I knew I was born before the Second Great Shinobi War, that it happened before I turned one, ended shortly before I finally woke up nearly six years ago.

But.

_But_.

I didn't expect to be born just _two years prior_ to Kakashi, Rin, and Obito.

(_Wh-What kind of luck is this...?_)

Oh. Boy.

I'm sharing the same breathing space as important people, a future deadman, and a villain.

Oh, wait.

Where should I sit?

Most of the kids aren't sitting down. Some, like Asuma or Kurenai, are sitting with kids near their desk talking away. Even Rin sits alone, reading a sizeable textbook covered by a book cover, the ideogram for _medical_ on its face.

_Rin's a sweetheart, I'm sure she'll let me sit next to her._ Thinking that, I walk up the steps to her bench, heart thudding harder and harder. I stop next to her, the window to my back, my shadow spilling over her. With her book in shadows, Rin slowly escapes from the text and looks up at me.

(Don't I seem a bit scary?)

Hurriedly, I lower my head into a small bow and place my hands in front of me. "Um... I'm new... and I don't have a s-seat... You seemed alone, so..."

(That kind of reasoning is horrible.)

"Ah, good morning! It's nice to meet you. I'm Rin Nohara. And you?"

(That kind of reasoning is genius.)

I stand upright. Rin is grinning genuinely.

I point to my chest. "Um... likewise... Akemi Minakura..."

"You're kind of shy, aren't you? It's okay, we're all kinda harmless."

Er, it's more like nervous.

(Isn't that what shyness is?)

Rin scoots over and pats the seat where she was. "Sit, sit."

I obey, trying to not bother her further. But I'm sitting with my backpack on. All the awkward little things inside like my books and lunch are pushing against my back.

"Sitting with your backpack on doesn't seem comfortable," Rin says with an awkward laugh. "I'll put it in the cubby next to my things. It has my name—it's spelled in Katakana."

I take off the teal backpack and hand it to her. "Thank you... sorry to be troublesome."

"It's fine! I was really shy when I first got here, so it's alright." Rin takes my backpack and leans close, whispering, "You should have seen how nervous I got around my crush, too."

She runs and puts up my backpack. I let out a great big sigh.

_I'm so exhausted I want to sleep..._

But my sleeping habits kinda got me kicked out the local civilian school and into homeschooling. Let's... not.

"Are you good in something?" Rin says once she's settled again. "I'm trying my best with Medical Ninja Techniques. Everyone says I have the best chakra control in the class, so it's only natural I learn this, right? And it makes me happy to help others, so this is perfect!"

I stare at my pencil. "...Weapons Techniques."

"Hm? So you're good at weapons? I would have never guessed! You look like you'd be great at..." Rin pauses for a while and laughs as the silence stretches. "I guess Medical Ninja Techniques? Because you're a girl, so..."

I shake my head. "My chakra... is too weak for that. Using different weapons was to... make up for that difference. But, I guess... I really like it."

"Ah, interesting."

Rin asks a number of casual questions to get to know me. So far, I'm glad. To think of the inane conversations I have memories of as a child... I couldn't bare to repeat them. Can't bare to act so innocent and naive of the world just like my classmates who aren't even a decade old.

"I live in Maple Village... you know, the blood red trees."

"The Minakura aren't really a clan yet. But... we're trying."

"No... I don't really know much about the Leaf..."

"Me as Hokage? Hm... absolutely not."

Rin smiles ruefully. "You're one of the few people who'd say that. You... and Asuma over there."

"...it's 'cause... I'll definitely fall asleep doing paperwork... going to meetings... being a diplomat..."

"Do you think those things are _that_ boring?"

"Uh, no... it's not boring, probably. It's just _me_."

"Hm?" Rin had always seemed interested in what I had to say, but she seems _extra _interested now.

"Good morning, everyone!"

Too bad the teacher is here and class is beginning.

The kids scramble to seats. Those already sitting down are saying hi to their teacher and asking about how his break went. After the commotion dies down, from behind his desk, he speaks.

"Welcome back, students. I will be your third year instructor, Kachime-sensei. I see many familar faces. But it seems we have one new student."

Rin tries to hide a giggle as the kids start to look. Some snap to me instantly. Other take a while. All are looking once my teacher Kachime looks directly at me and says, "Akemi, would you stand up?"

My body feels like paper in the wind. Not really wanting to, I rise.

"Thank you. Say your name and your goal, please."

(Would Rin save me...?)

"Akemi Minakura..." My voice is pretty soft but the class is dead silent, so it doesn't matter. "My goal? Um... graduate?"

Laughter... or maybe snickering... breaks the silence. I sit down soon after and whisper to Rin, "Did I mess up...?"

Rin shakes her hands. "It's fine!"

"Very realistic," Kachime says. "Now then, we'll begin our lesson."

Ten minutes into his lecture, I realize I'm not a fast writer. Mom would do all the hard work for me and would just be content if I remembered some of the stuff.

I think I'm going to need outside help with this.

An hour later, something loud slides the door open and runs in. Everyone pauses to see the commotion.

"S-Sorry I'm late!"

"Hurry and sit down somewhere," Kachime orders. "Next time, please arrive more discreetly."

Rin whispers again. "That's my friend Obito Uchiha. He's a little late and kinda funny, but he's so hard working. It inspires me."

Obito Uchiha laughs embarrassedly and searches the rows, only stopping when he sees Rin. His goofy smile is natural and Rin responds with a small smile. Then his eyes slide right. _Me_.

Oh. Eye contact.

He stares at me, confused and a bit angry.

Not knowing what to do, I wave.

His expression only sours more.

Obito ends up with a seat pretty far from Rin.

Once it's break time between classes, I plan to catch a few minutes of sleeping. It's ruined once seven, ten, twelve children run up to where I sit and start asking questions. Similar to Rin (though without most of the charm), my classmates interrogate me on my life and comment on my replies.

"Maple Village is pretty far, no?" says a girl, gazing at the ceiling.

"No way, it's super close! Though... why did you come so far just to become a ninja? Living outside the Leaf was probably a sign."

"Actually," a young faced Kurenai Yuuhi mentions, holding a finger up, "if she's managed to join us third years, I believe she might be very talented."

(Thank you, Kurenai...)

At her side, Asuma Sarutobi replies, "But... isn't this like that weird kid Might Guy who joined last year? He wasn't really talented."

Kids leap onto Asuma's assumption.

"Kachime-sensei probably felt sorry for her."

"That guy's really nosy like that."

"Who travels from way outside the village to here just to become a ninja who's bad at it? Are you being forced to be a ninja?"

"Look at how airy and slow she looks. She probably believes she can do it, just like that Might Guy."

One girl pats my shoulder, staring at me sympathetically. "Whatever Akemi thinks, she thinks. I mean, it's her life. She can just leave the Academy if she wants."

The kids... most are not malicious but are using logic without care of my feelings. Their self-centered brains and pick and pull my replies to form their own narrative. _Why_ would a very weak-looking girl travel so much every day to be a ninja? If I'm in this class, wouldn't I be just as bad as their Might Guy? Is there any hope for me? The more they talk amongst themselves, the less of a threat I appear to be.

"I wonder how good Akemi says she is at weapons. I can't imagine someone that talks as slow as she does to be all that good."

"It's pity, pity's the reason she's here."

I look behind me, getting the sudden urge to hide.

But the seat next to me is empty. Rin Nohara is nowhere to be seen. And neither is Obito Uchiha.

(I guess... I'm alone in this.)

Rin does return a few seconds before Kachime enters the room, smiling brightly. I debate asking her where she went—it's not as if we're friends. I decide against it when she slides me a paper note reading, "_My best friend pulled me away, sorry! I'm not going to eat lunch in here today, so I think this is a great time to find some new friends in class! I believe in you, Akemi!_" with semantics more proper than her regular speech.

Once lunchtime comes and most of the students scramble for the cafeteria, I decide to each lunch all by myself. As I tear into my rice rolls, eyes are looking my way. But my body is stuck to this seat, and this rice is glue inside my mouth. Behind me, a girly voice whispers, "She's eating alone? Not even Rin wants to eat with her? That's kinda lonely..."

The afternoons are all ninja lessons. For the first day, we review the official rulebook and review hand signs, with a few classmates racing one another for speed. At the end of the day, all girls head to Kunoichi Class. I finally manage to talk to Rin again as I wait for her to get ready and head out.

"Hanabira-sensei is very beautiful," Rin tells me. "She's a bit of a tough grader, so try your best."

We just discuss what is expected of kunoichi and what our learning objectives are for this term, with tomorrow promising the revisiting of flower language. (To many groans.) After that, the day is done.

Rin spots Obito sitting outside, watching something not too far away. Grinning, she says, "Have a great day, Akemi! I'll see you tomorrow!" She runs off.

I watch her purple kimono-like tunic turn the corner.

The halls are empty and quiet, save for pairs of friends idly taking their time to leave. Backpack straps in hand, I trudge on, staring at the ground.

My first week passes without anything crazy happening.

On Sunday morning, I stop by Nishi-sensei's store. It's still not very active. Nishi-sensei is in the middle of dusting off her products when I step in.

"You know you have to tell me how it's going, right?" she says.

I tell her everything.

"That teacher is a godsend," Nishi-sensei confirms. "Unbelievable... he was the only person who wanted you? As if you were _that_ bad."

(Eh? Sensei, you almost constantly called me hopeless...)

"At any rate, I'm glad you see your work doesn't stop there. As you said, you'll have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Saying it like that, don't those words sound nice? But when you add a little reality in, it's not as nice."

"...um, do you have advice?"

Nishi-sensei scratches her head, jostling her bun. It might actually topple over and spill silky black hair.

(But she stops before anything happens, having made up her mind.)

"Well... I expect to see you on weekends for practice. Since you have to be home by dusk, you'll just have to do a lot of it at home under _proper_ supervision. Expect to be training during the breaks while other kids are slacking off. Besides that... well, since you're barely making it by, I think you should try to become the top kunoichi."

My heart nearly stops. "Eh?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it? If you're number one, there's no doubt you won't pass. Anything less than number one, and you'll probably won't pass at all, because there's always someone better who deserves to pass. If you're aspring for that spot... it won't be easy at all."

That makes total sense. Say if I were fifth kunoichi in class and I take the graduation exam, I could still do well but obviously I'd never have the same potential as number one. Doing well in fifth place is far more different than doing well in first place.

(But that sounds exhausting... I want to sleep...)

"Improving your sucky skills to decent and turning your good Weapons Techniques into great—that's how you'll become number one." Nishi-sensei narrows her eyes. "Ah... also, you'll have to excel in all subjects and in that kunoichi whatever. Most girls really hate that, so they slack off, but don't think that applies to you as well. In short, your life will be about fun as watching a rock walk and you'll have to grow up quickly. Sounds fun? Think not. You can still give up the ninja career whenever."

Nishi-sensei speaks quickly but after slowing her speech down in my head, I say firmly, "Can't quit."

She hangs her head and groans. "Worth a shot. Anyway, if you're serious, you'll be sponsoring my weapons after the first term."

"Why then...?"

"Because the class ranks will be posted. The friends you have now... tension will grow as soon as that poster is added. You're all working together until you discover the same girl who needed you to make an A on her paper is five ranks higher than you. Well... I hated all my classmates, so rank posting was always hilarious to me."

"That sounds... really difficult," I sigh.

"Like being able to _be_ an Academy student wasn't difficult enough," Nishi-sensei says. "So is this where your dream ends? Or are you going to keep going?"

_Hard work... is such hard work._

"No, Nishi-sensei..."

* * *

**small steps chapter 5 **| _education_

* * *

My fingers are still shaky and throbbing with pain. I spent all last night trying to take notes faster. Today's the first day to try it out.

Still, they hurt even though I got here early, took a fast nap, and woke up just as Rin sits down. I nod once at her, not eager to move my hands in a wave.

"Good morning, Akemi. Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Huh? I do... I just get sleepy a lot," I say.

"Oh. I heard you sleep during lunchtime and stuff, too," Rin adds, fiddling with her pencil. "I was worried all that traveling was exhausting you."

Nope. I prefer to sleep walk here. "Not at all..."

"Wow," Rin laughs, "you're a human sloth! That's so cute! Your face is just as cute as one of them!"

I... can't complain. "I haven't heard that one..."

Obito always pulls Rin away from me during breaks, leaving me to snooze alone. As I stack my notebooks together in preparation of sleeping, someone's hand grab my wrist. Slowly, I gaze up.

The girl's hair is unnaturally black and shiny, as if ink spills from her head like a waterfall. With the sun being bright outside the windows, her sky blue eyes are shining. A small smile adorns her pale face.

"Are you lonely?" says she, voice high-pitched and girly.

"U-Um..." Not expecting that, I start to think of a response.

"You don't really make an effort to talk to us. Are you shy? Or is there something more?"

_Maybe_, I think while I can't manage to make eye contact with her, _I am shy. Huh. _"Sorry..."

"You know what? It's okay. I'll become your friend! Just... tell me what things you're really good at so far! Besides your weapons."

The girl is sming brightly.

"Ah... um... I'm good at history..."

"Oh, that's cool! I really hate how boring history is," she says with a roll of her eyes. "How about you be my friend and help me with it? In return... you won't have to be lonely anymore!"

"Um..."

In the back of my mind, I'm thinking no way. I can't balance all this training and studying with tutoring. On the other side, maybe the whispers will stop and I'll actually enjoy coming here. It's okay if I have to tutor her so I'm not so alone.

But... this friendship... seems too cheap and one-sided. Too superficial.

I breathe in. I say, "...thank you, but... I don't want this kind of friendship..."

"_Eh_? You do get you don't have _any_ kind of friendship, don't you? You shouldn't be so picky, yunno. If you're not gonna talk to us, why should we do something for _you_? I'm kind enough to be your friend. This is how you treat me?"

People are beginning to stare. It won't be long before the whispering starts. I need to end this now.

"Let's be friends normally... I'm Akemi Minakura. My goal is to graduate here. Then... you tell me your name and goal. Maybe we can talk about things... we both like."

"Ah, I understand."

Her expression is as frosty as her eyes.

"You're too dumb to get anything," she clarifies. "_Let's be friends normally?_ You being normal isn't getting any friends. Do you even get what that means? Totally not. All you get is how to sleep and make that confused face. Even if we were friends, I couldn't ever like you at all. Next time we meet, could you respond _a little faster_, too? Don't waste my time."

She walks away all coolly, sits with four other students, obviously ranting. I get the feeling my words are being misunderstood, and that the kids who watched and listened take me even less seriously.

I think I made things worse, not better.

(Beggars can't be choosers. I should have taken her offer.)

Later that day in Kunoichi Class, we're crafting our own weapons to hide within rings. Rin opts for a needle to inject a liquid to make the target sleep. I'm trying to get my ring to unravel and form a shuriken.

"Oh, please, Akemi would forget this was a weapon and'll hurt herself!"

I stare intently at my ring.

"Won't her face be cute though? Accidentally killing herself with her own weapon?"

"Hey, look, she's hardly done anything. Guess something like this is harder than sleeping."

"What _has_ she been good at so far?"

At this, Rin turns around at her desk, saying, "Why are you all talking about Akemi?"

"Ah, Rin... you're too sweet! You wouldn't understand! So don't worry!"

"We'll stooop!"

Rin nudges me. "Sorry. They say they'll stop talking..."

Obviously, that only meant they'll stop talking about me to her face. Because whenever I'm in the general area with classmates, they start talking about me. Eventually, a few boys start to join in. They aren't as sly as the girls, preferring to accidentally throw things at me.

Is this bullying?

I'm being bullied?

Hm... it's been a while, but this isn't unfamiliar. I was certainly picked on because I sleep too much. Now the cycle repeats with clever ninja children.

The Academy isn't much fun at all.

* * *

**small steps chapter 5 **| _education_

* * *

Sayaka enters my room without knocking. "Haven't seen you in a while, An-chan."

I show her my textbooks and papers. "Studying..."

Sayaka crouches next to me, peering at the mess on my table. "Are you _sure_ you're not possessed?"

"Distracting..." I point to the door. "Out."

"Wah, so domineering! But you know... if you need help, just say, 'Big Sister Sayaka, I need you!' and I'll be there!"

"I won't say that... so go."

"Ehhh? I've been through this before, though! I wasn't top kunoichi, but I wasn't dead last."

"Sayaka... please go."

She sits in silence, staring me down. I try to ignore her and continue my notes. Halfway through my sentence, my pencil disappears. Where did it—

Sayaka picks me up and drops me into me bed, falling on top of me. She's _heavy_ and is crushing me. I can't say anything.

"You know, you've been really quiet lately," Sayaka says, voice no longer bright. "Moody... private. You're not my brother, so you shouldn't be doing these things. I bet there's something wrong at the Academy, huh? Something's spoiled the color and glamor and it can't be academics. You're not fervent in your studies. It can't be ninja stuff, because you keep practicing. So what is it?"

She leans away, allowing for me to talk. At first, I don't say anything. With her chin on my head, my cousin has trapped me inside a hug. A hug that I can't say I don't want. But she'll probably never leave or will continue to do this until satisfied. She can be annoying like that.

"It's lonely."

"Lonely?"

Continuing to talk is like an admission of defeat. "I don't have friends... I thought it wouldn't matter, but I don't blend in. I didn't know I was shy... I didn't know just how weird I seem to be going to the Academy... so many things are off about me, so I can't blend in and so I get talked about."

"Ahhhh... people in this world... really dislike things that don't fit."

Sayaka sighs.

"When I was in the Academy, I did everything possible to be just like the prettiest and bestest kunoichi there. She was a Yamanaka, beautiful with a special femininity. Boys loved her, girls who were her friend were on top of the social chain.

"I became her friend for three years, even though it meant losing things that were important to me. To this day, I can't really remember what I used to be like nor can I ask Mommy to remind me. Because then she'll remember and maybe it'll hurt her.

"I think your story can end differently," she murmurs, hugging me tighter. "I don't want to see you change, Akemi. So you have to find someone who'll accept you no matter what. If not that class, than that floor. If not that, that building. As much as I want to rescue you... I can't defeat this enemy. This is yours."

I don't respond.

(It sounds like I'm off to battle a boss.)

I can't say I listen much to Sayaka's words, however. I mean... physical threats are a bit easy to fight. Simplistic. The enemy I face is not only invisible but inside of me.

* * *

**small steps chapter 5 **| _education_

* * *

Much to my dismay, we don't cover weapons lessons during the first few weeks. It's nothing but basic physical conditioning, swimming, and basic martial arts. It's hard for my talent to shine through. Even harder: making top grades doing something I'm lousy in. Girls are graded more leniently than boys, which only leads to boys teasing us when Kachime isn't paying attention.

I'm not _terrible_ but it's still embarrassing. Only girls who know they aren't going to be field shinobi or couldn't care less about grades do worse than me. Once I finally finish the cool down lap after running two kilometers, I drop to the grass and _yawn_.

"—hey, hey, wasn't she running while she was asleep?"

"She's still sleepy! What kind of girl is she?"

I find myself briefly unable to doze off. Two girl are walking past me, hands covering their mouths. Meaning... Rin's nowhere near. Yup, she's currently cheering on Obito who is the last of the boys.

I nod off while watching, but an intuition wakes me up from the dreamless nap expecting to still see Rin cheering.

It's break time. Kachime is going from student to student giving detailed analyses. There are relieved faces that Asuma and Kurenai (always together) make, some mock horror faces, but most are carefree. Every person is surrounded by another or two, to reminiscence over their scores. Even Rin cheers on the disappointed Obito.

I sit with my folded arms on my knees and white anemone flowers sprouting from the ground near my toes.

"Akemi?"

I have to tilt my head way back to see Kachime's face. He adjusts his glasses at the bridge and holds his lime-colored clipboard with grass stickers closer. "Um... I don't have previous results to compare to, however... you performed very average for the age of your peers. At your age, you are below average."

Huh.

_That's not too surprising._

"Additionally..."

I drop my chin on my arms, thinking of scheduling in running practice in my already busy life.

"...you still haven't made any friends."

Woah...

Kachime is quieter now, looking away at Might Guy doing some enthusiastic exercising.

"You're similar to him. Though he's probably the exact opposite of you, if you're lonely, he could use a friend as well. You're both rather eccentric! Don't think I didn't see you run while sleeping today!"

I look back at Might Guy—urging the exhausted students around him for some elaborate post-exercise routine—with a drop of sweat trailing down the side of my head.

Me?

Friends with him?

_Guy is such an incredible person—why should he be hindered by a hopeless sleepyhead like me?_

Even though his first introduction wasn't the most flattering, I still respected that man. Might Guy's unwavering determination... his enviable perseverence... his willingness to sacrifice his life to stop a great evil just like his father...

If I'm friends with him... I'll definitely bring him down with me.

"On the surface, maybe..." I murmur , looking at the flowers around me. "But actually... I'd..."

Kachime doesn't respond for a bit. Lethargy pulls at my eyelids.

"You say that," Kachime says, " but that isn't true. The fire I acknowledged within Might Guy is the very same I saw within you. Maybe your fire isn't as bright or bold, but... a fire is a fire. If you two nurture that fire, I have no doubt you'll go very, _very_ far. And the first step to nurturing those flames is through a bond. Nobody in this world can get far without bonds. Be it positive or negative. So... don't give up. Sometimes you have to take the first step."

Kachime smiles so kindly, just like that day at the entrance exam. Back then, he smile did nothing to assuage my fears.

Now...

Something indescribable forms within me. It chases away my lethargy and makes me impatient. Indescribable yet so familiar.

"Understand..." I say, nodding even, "Kachime-sensei..."

* * *

**small steps chapter 5 **| _education_

* * *

With fear, I slide open the door. Eyes look at me, mocking smiles subconsciously form.

Rin is still reading her medical textbook.

I sit next to her, already exhausted for the day. As I yawn, Rin taps my shoulder.

"I've been hearing things," she says. "Some people call you silly and airheaded. I told them to stop."

"Names don't bother me," I tell her.

Rin nods, a bit troubled. I don't let that finish our conversation... I refuse to let Rin return to her book with nothing solved. "...I haven't made a friend, though."

"Oh! Really? Do you need help?"

My heart is thudding. "So... apparently... I'm shy."

Rin snickers. "I could've told you that!"

"And... of all the people here... I would want to be your friend most of all. If you don't want to, that's fine."

"Oh... oh! Y-You mean... you _want_ to be my friend?"

(Doesn't Rin sound kinda like me?)

Rin scratches her head. "I mean... I guess... I thought you understood that without my best friend, I'm kinda lonely. I mean, I'm always the odd one out in even groups, you know? So with you here, I haven't been struggling to fit in! B-But I thought... I didn't know you wanted to be my friend. You never really did anything..."

So she thought _I _was keeping her away, or something.

_That's completely wrong._

Although my silence is mostly the fault of my shyness, I genuinely have _no clue_ what a kid would talk about. I can understand adults and teenagers, at a lesser extent. But a kid's mind is the antithesis of my own.

_Surely a kid wouldn't care about things such as morality, people watching, and the scientific reasoning behind chakra. Don't they talk about simple things like funny stories or play games? _

(How could we misunderstand this badly?)

"I'm sorry... I'm new to this," I say. "If it helps... I'm really, really sheltered. You're the first person near my age I've talked to. So... the things you expect from normal people... is expecting a bit much from me."

"Ah, that makes so much sense! Mh-hm... so that's why you were always so close to me. I get it. But next time... it's okay to talk more. Not being alone is nice, but it's really awkward when the silence never ends..." Rin laughs.

(I thought it was peaceful. That's probably where the problem is.)

I try talking to Rin about anything I can think of until class starts. Rin obviously humors me. Come lunchtime and Rin is introducing me to:

"—the future Hokage, Obito Uchiha!"

(In real life, he's a bit loud, huh?)

I lower my head a little. "Akemi Minakura. Um... I'll be a ninja in the future... probably."

"Eh? Why are you doubting yourself? Are you that bad?"

"Obito, don't say things like that," Rin mildly scolds. "Akemi says she's good at weapons, right?"

I nod more towards Rin than to Obito.

"That's it?" Obito doesn't seem too impressed. "Well, I'm from the Uchiha Clan! I've got Fire Release and Sharingan, you know! I'll be super strong one day!"

"Ah," I say, "you will."

(Oh, I did not think that.)

Obito blinks, mouth agape. Before long, his grins returns, brighter than before. "Y-Yeah! Exactly! See, she gets it!"

Rin laughs. "I'm glad you two are getting along! Obito was really worried about you. He said you two probably wouldn't!"

"W-Well, that's history, Rin," Obito interrupts. "So... do you really sleep that much?"

Obito hangs out in the classroom while Rin and I go to the Kunoichi Class. At the end of the day, as we walk the fenced off path to go home—I behind Rin and Obito—I steel myself and say, "Hey... er... let's hang out after school together... someday..."

_That sounded a lot better in my head._

Rin and Obito trade a look.

"That's sounds like fun," Rin smiles. "Let's all hang out one day! As best friends!"

* * *

**small steps chapter 5 **| _education_

* * *

Actually, from February 10 to May 19, Akemi is 2 years older than Obito. For the rest of the year, she's three. It's the case for a few others, so it's more accurate to say she almost 3 years older than her classmates. The age counter is put there to address future awkward birthdays and ages to fit timeline as close as possible. For example, if Obito is 12 years and 10 months, his age of death will be rounded up as 13 years though official records will have 12 years.


	6. 01:06

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**academy akemi-chan:** _rising_

**years til nine tails:** 8_ years, 6 months_

**akemi:** 9_ years, 11 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

Nishi-sensei drums her fingers on her chin as she hovers nearby.

Every time I pause between a throw... or massage aching hands, I sneak a glance at her gaze. It's too distracted to be analyzing me. But she barely blinks which is _just_ as bad.

"Sleepy."

Internally, I exhale in relief. "Sensei?"

"Let's learn a new weapon."

Truthfully, I'm exhausted but I'm not dumb enough to discourage Nishi-sensei. "...yes, Sensei."

Nishi-sensei walks to a shelf, grabbing something sounding like heavy metal scraping against wood. She returns, eager, energetic. "In lieu of long range weapons," she introduces warmly, "I present to you the chain-sickle."

It looks lackluster: the chain-sickle is quite literally a chained sickle with a weight on the opposite end. The weight is pretty heavy compared to the sickle.

"Good, huh?" Nishi-sensei looks over the weapon fondly. "It's pretty versatile. The sickle makes for a great ranged blade while the weight can be used to grab things and bring them to you. But using the weight is a bit advanced, so don't get impatient. This sickle in particular is double bladed, so you can preform a number of fatalities on a person."

I look at the weapon warily.

"Don't give me that look. This weapon is made to bring others down to your power. You can use the weight to break fingers or toes, to disarm. Once your opponent is weakened, use the sickle to kill or force surrender. It's good for someone as green as you."

Nishi-sensei teaches me how to spin the chain and use it to catch things. The trick is to get enough motion to make the weight keep spinning in a circle, chaining whatever it has in its grasps. Then we work on recovering from failed wraps, because ninety percent of the weapon's use comes from being to grab onto things.

"I heard that Hanzou would also add chakra to his chain to make sure it stuck," Nishi-sensei mentions. "When you're a Jounin with that kind of capability, consider doing that for extra reassurance."

There are other ways to use the weight in a fight. Though its function is grabbing and anyone who would fight me would expect that, the weight is a heavy, flying projectile at the end of the day.

Nishi-sensei teaches me how to throw the weight at a target as if it were a kunai. Fast enough and surprising enough, the ninja will be hit. Too slow and the ninja may catch it. When that happens, it's safe to throw an kunai with an explosive tag or some other large distraction to convince the ninja to let go. Ideally, it'd be best to not loose the weapon.

If I hook the chain around the sickle and spin the weight, it becomes a shield and a long ranged projectile.

"It's a good weapon," Nishi-sensei tells me, "so long as your opponent doesn't grab it. Move quickly and be surprising."

My hands are aching whenever I write notes in the Academy or practice sewing my clothes to hide special weapons in Kunoichi Class that week.

In that July, the end of the first semester is in three weeks. The almost lazy Academy days come to an end.

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

"How am I supposed to remember things from April?" Obito rants. "Do you know how long I've been in here? My months are getting mixed up!"

Our class walks through the halls following behind Kachime-sensei. The three of us had just finished the lunch I brought (after all, Sayaka said friends do random acts of kindness like that), so we didn't need to group up for our afternoon lessons.

"Semester finals are always so stressful," Rin tells me, smiling nervously. "When we get back from summer break, class rankings start."

Obito's eyes are shining under the orange tint of his goggles. "I'm usually at the end, but not this year! I've been working hard on my Fireball Technique, you know!"

Rin nods. "It looks very cool now!"

Obito's face flushes. "R-Right!"

I open the door that leads to the outside target practice grounds for the two of them. "So... everyone will be asking for Kachime-sensei's help..."

"Yup, it's best to ask him in the beginning so you don't have to worry about it," says Rin.

Speaking of our teacher, Kachime-sensei tells us all to crowd around the smallest target practice area. Jutting from the ground at the average height of an adult are eight cylindrical poles. A black and white target is painted with the same area of an average adult's face.

Something fun to do... as opposed to swimming, climbing, and hiking lessons we've had for a month.

For this lesson, we'll have to hit seven targets with four shuriken and three with kunai. The closer to the center, the better the score.

"I've been working hard on this," Rin tells me. "Medical ninja have to be able to flee, so being able to throw good is a must. Anko's been helping me so much."

"Anko...?" If I'm correct... that's definitely the troublemaker Anko Mitarashi from our Kunoichi Class. She does anything possible to drive our teacher Hanabira mad even though she enjoys the class. It's probably to punish her for being such a harsh grader.

"Anko's always been good!" Obito leans a bit futher than Rin does so I can see him too. "She says it's fun killing bugs and throwing stuff at stray animals, so she'll work hard to be on the mark."

"...what kind of hobby...?" I mumble.

"That's only _a_ part of her. Anko is very kind once you know her," Rin says.

"Can't relate! She's always picking on me, you know," Obito pouts. "She's prolly only nice because you're nice to everyone."

"Obito's the really nice one. Because he became my first friend," Rin teases.

Obito turns away, missing the happy smile on Rin's face. "D-... Don't you friendship takes two people? You were kind enough to be _my_ first friend, so..."

What a crush...

Considering how wacky Obito is, maybe Rin just couldn't image Obito having a crush on her? As of right now, it just looks like he gets flustered easily. It all fits in perfectly with his passionate and mercurial emotions.

But once we settle down, I watch our classmates throw. Some are very good and some could use a little work. Obito's throw starts well until he throws the kunai... which kinda missed all the targets and nearly hit Kachime-sensei.

It seems names are drawn at random, because Anko throws before I throw.

She strides up to point where we all have to stand, grabs four shuriken from out her rear pouch, and throws. Every shuriken make the center dot, though not always directly in the center. The kunai follow a similar path. No other students has had such a high accuracy up until now and the claps prove it.

Anko skips to her seat with a huge smirk.

"She's taught me," Rin mumbles, "but I'm no where near that good."

"It's okay, Rin! I believe in you!" Obito gives her a thumbs up.

_Anko really is talented._

Something as basic as accuracy isn't that hard to come by. But by being an Academy student, we have to practice all sorts of things, even studying or training ten hours after we get home. Not too many students care about getting perfect marks in everything. Fewer care about putting enough time and energy into something as inconsequential as accuracy.

So... it's really unnerving to see results as good as mine where it's taken me nearly two years of daily practice versus children who occasionally practiced over three years or more.

(That's probably why only Kachime-sensei picked me; I'm a bit unremarkable.)

_That doesn't matter. Just try harder. Be better._

I repeat that mantra until it's my time to throw. Rin and Obito cheer me on before I walk forward. Some people clap (most are polite clappers who clap even for people they don't know) for the girl who doesn't really fit in.

Feeling the shuriken and kunai in my hands is slightly comforting. Knowing I have so many eyes watching is not.

"Whenever you're ready, begin," Kachime-sensei says, purple clipboard decorated with purple shuriken ready for notes.

I inhale and exhale.

The wind is almost non existent. Some poles are farther back than others. I should apply the same amount of force for all weapons so that the closer ones stay stuck and the farther ones will likely remain stuck.

The easiest targets are in front of me, three of seven. The next two are off to the side slightly, so that means different release rates. There's going to be a slight curve on the outer targets, so I can't have the wind messing me up.

I pause until I'm absolutely certain the wind won't restart midway through the throw and launch both weapons at the same time, regretting I can't use chakra to make it easier.

(Ah... I don't think I was supposed to do them simultaneously.)

As soon as they all leave my hands, my body feels so drained I really want to sleep.

I don't, though.

The shuriken and kunai all hit the center of the targets with three kunai directly in the center of the innermost circle and four a bit under the center.

It's not shabby for my first attempt at this. If I practiced a bit more, it'd be way better.

I'm thinking about scheduling time to practice this when Kachime-sensei says loudly, "That's the highest accuracy of this semester so far!"

I hear him, I didn't listen, so I say, "Huh?"

"No one's been that accurate this semester," he says. "Congratulations!"

"Ah... oh... thank you..."

I walk back to Obito and Rin, still dazed. I swear I hear a clap, but Obito is shouting so loudly, "That was super cool! I honestly thought you fell asleep up there!"

Rin giggles. "Hey, hey, why didn't you say you were this good? Could you teach me sometime?"

_Me? A teacher?_

"...um, okay?"

(If you can get through how slow I am.)

Rin brings up my score again as we walk to Kunoichi Class. "You reminded me so much of Kakashi back then."

Kakashi and _me_ in the same sentence? Have I fallen asleep? I pinch my cheek, much to Rin's amusement.

"Hey, new girl!"

I look over my shoulder, unable to decipher the girly voice.

There are a few classmates in the Ninja Academy that I can look at and feel a massive sense of deja vu. There are some whose faces spark no memory.

She belongs to the former. And I don't just feel deja vu, I instantly realize who this person is.

The first thing I see is spiky, violet hair falling unevenly over her face. Her opaque mesh tank top comes into view, followed by a uniquely shaped necklace. A similar material covers her arms and knees. By her baggy shorts are two balled fists.

She stops at a deliberate moment, just enough to where she's invading the usual distance people make with strangers. I notice it. Rin notices it. We are not friends, so the breech feels too awkward.

"You look like you don't even know me," she says, pale brown _pupil-less_ both mesmerizing and intense.

"A-Ah..." I'm not sure of her intent, so it'd be wise not to tick her off. "You're... Anko Mitarashi..."

She nods once, satisfied. "And you're that sleepyheaded new girl. Didn't expect for you to actually be good at something. But, the thing is, accuracy is _my_ thing. I'm the best thrower in Kachime-sensei's class."

"Oh, er," Rin cuts in, "you two can be the best together! It'll be fun!"

Anko's gaze softens when looking at Rin. It turns harsh as she sizes me up. "We don't have nothing in common, Rin. She looks 'bout as interesting as a funeral."

Sweat falls down my cheek.

(Oh.)

"I—I don't think I am," I say. "It's... I'm biased, but... I learned how to do that in two years, so... before I practiced, I was terrible."

"So? You telling me you're a genius? Like Kakashi?" She shifts her weight to the leg closest to me. Bad sign.

"N-No way. But, look, I can use a sword... and a staff... and some other weapons, too. It only took two years. Isn't that... isn't that cool?"

_Think of all the fun things I could do, Anko. Don't kids like that?_

Anko narrows her eyes. Her frown changes into a grimace. "Is that the reason Kachime-sensei let you in here? You can do a few fancy tricks inna short time, and that's okay? Well, I been here nearly three years. I can totally kick your butt no sweat."

Wait...

Anko's mad at me?

I look to Rin only to find a confused look on her face. "Akemi, you can do all that? I didn't know! That's really impressive you learned so quickly, too."

"Rin, you should really stay away from her," Anko continues. "I don't like her vibe. She transfers in just because she knows a few things? What kind of a person could learn so much even though she sleeps a bunch?"

This is going downhill so fast.

I think I understand what's happening: kids have a set perspective on things good and bad. Nothing will change. A bad guy on TV is _bad_ even if they get redeemed. So, in her eyes, she's already labeled me as _bad_ and is only filtering things to confirm I'm the bad guy.

I hold both my palms up. "Er... it's a misunderstanding. I'm trying to say... I'm here for a reason. And I could teach you. You... you could be better."

"_Be better_? You tryna say something, new girl?" Anko shouts and huffs. "I don't like people who underestimate me. So what if I'm not top kunoichi? I don't need to be the top to beat you up!"

"Wait! We shouldn't fight, you two!" Rin pleads.

I nod eagerly. The _last_ thing I want is to get beat up.

Anko smirks. "Fine, _Rin_. I'll just beat our genius girl another way. Later!"

With that cheery goodbye, Anko walks off.

"...wrong words?" I say to Rin, who just exhales.

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

The three of us spend the week before the first semester finals studying. The test is both written and practical, so that only means more things so study for. With help from Sayaka and Nishi-sensei, I feel slightly less unprepared.

If I do well, I'll have a good class rank. Then Nishi-sensei will be proud.

But I have to beat kids who spent three years doing this kind of thing.

So far all my grades are As. Low As, but still As. The highest and rarest grade is S, which I only get in classes involving weapons. Averaging all the grades, I'm making a high A.

Nishi-sensei told me I might have a shot at first place but if I screw up this heavily weighed exam, it's all over.

"Good luck," Rin says, trading out her kimono tunic for a black shirt and simple shorts.

I nod, trembling slightly.

After a day full of testing, summer break begins.

Instead of resting, I'm forced to study and train for long hours, only _occasionally_ joining Obito and Rin for fun times for an hour or two.

When late September hits, we're back in the Academy with warm clothes and eagerness to read the rankings now posted on the wall.

Obito, Rin, and I read the board once the commotion is gone.

Obito is the first to find his name. "Dead last _again_? _What the heeeeck_?"

"But isn't your average now a low C instead of a D? You're getting much better," Rin says, only kind of consoling him.

"I bet you're number one again," the Uchiha pouts—

Rin? Number_ one_?

The name next to number one for kunoichi is

definitely Rin Nohara.

"I was sure Kurenai's S in genjutsu would totally beat me," Rin sighs.

"Rin Nohara... Kurenai Yuuhi... ah, Akemi's got third place! Congratulations!"

Rin claps along. "Congratulations!"

...it seems I have some ways to go.

"Rin's... so smart," I say.

"Ah, not really... Academics have always been my thing. I have to spend a buuunch of time working on Body Techniques and fitness, though... My grades could be better."

"Rin is perfect," Obito blushes. "Don't worry about better grades."

Rin laughs. "Obito, I need them so I can be a medical ninja. Oh! I have to go congratulate Kurenai and Anko! And Anko's fourth! It's kinda weird not seeing her in third, you know..."

"Eh?" I say.

I look over to Anko's seat. Of course she's sitting there, giving me a death glare.

To her, I came in and ended up being better than her in only one semester.

There's probably no fixing the rage the feels.

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

Rin doesn't show up for class today. Obito doesn't find me for lunch, so I do the work and find him. As he bites into his fish, I'm just now getting comfortable and smelling the contents of my lunch box before me.

"Oh, sup, Akemi," he says and stuffs his mouth even more.

"Hey..."

As food enters my filling tummy, I look over to tell Obito I want to sleep. Obito is watching Rin's empty seat, food held by chopsticks lingering near his mouth.

...he hasn't said anything. Normally, it'd be so, so difficult to shut him up.

The once relaxing silence becomes stifling and cold.

_How... how does Rin do this? Usually... a question. Something boring and plain. Something related to the Academy._

"Ah... er... hey."

Obito looks over, a bit startled.

I continue after adjusting my position in the chair, "...did you buy any... ninja important things? Like... ninja pouches... thigh holsters... ninja backpacks...?"

"Oh," Obito tells me, full of energy, "that's what we did earlier!"

"...earlier?" I tilt my head thoughtfully. I know I was training with Nishi-sensei yesterday... and the day before that...

"Erm, well, sometimes I get bored at home. So I like to walk to Rin's house and get her to hang out. Thing was, Kurenai had the money to go shopping, so Rin and I joined her! Kurenai is so riiich!"

"Ah..."

My stomach isn't greedy for food anymore.

Here I am... struggling to make time so I can hang out with them, not counting training and being home before night. And with long Academy days and weekends are busy playing catch up, I can't remember the last time we seriously met up after school.

_Friends make everything funner_, Sayaka told me. _Can you really call anyone a friend if you've done anything more than talking? You have to bond!_

I guess doing academic things together isn't enough. I wasn't even invited to join at least once...

My heart trembles.

"Do you... hang out every day... with Rin?" I try to keep my voice steady... even though my hands are sweaty no matter how many times I wipe them on my sweater.

Obito laughs sheepishly. "Don't make fun of me! It's so boring being alone! And Rin doesn't mind. Sometimes we go out and do things, or we stay in and eat or study together. Rin even knows when I'm gonna be bored 'cause sometimes she'll invite me to places first!"

His happy grin is practically scolding the bitter feelings growing within me.

_I'm never invited. I've never even heard of Rin's offers..._

"...could I join sometime," I ask under my breath.

"Huh? Um... I guess so? But the things we do means you can't really sleep and stuff. And... maybe not studying together, you seem like a boring tutor. So... I mean, what would you like to do?"

Aha.

I'm never invited because I never take the initiative. It's too much to hope for a socially adept person to take me under their wing and do all the work for me. Then again... maybe it's me. Maybe I'm a dull person. It's not like I understand _how_ to communicate with people this young.

"Actually..." I breath in. Out. "What's... your favorite place to eat?"

"_Mmm_... anywhere, really. But I can't pay for food. Grandma won't get paid til... next week, I think?"

"Don't worry... it's on me."

Obito's mouth falls open as his eyes glitter. "You have money? Can Rin join, too? Won't that be like a date for us?" And he chuckles at whatever fantasy he daydreams of.

On Saturday, I don't enter the Leaf with the intent on going to Nishi-sensei's to practice, but to meet up with two special people.

"Heyyyy! You made ittttt!"

My heart warms.

Rin is still sick, but only fights a red, runny nose and sneezing. Obito tells her to order spicy pork to clear her nose (which does as well as send tears pouring from her eyes) as he eats his pork bowl. I push aside all the meat and eat the seasoned veggies and rice in my bowl.

"...never been to Ichiraku's?" I say, making eye contact with Obito who keeps trying to give napkins to an embarrassed Rin. "It's pretty cheap."

"I know, but... it's so popular and when there's a lot of people, I get noticed."

Obito is not smiling or continuing. He shoves meat into his mouth and watches something off in the distance.

Either he's being mocked for being different from most Uchiha, being dead last, or... it's villagers who hate all Uchiha. Not a nice feeling. Which is probably why Obito insisted we buy pork bowls from his favorite elderly chef and eat them on a bench. Away from too many people.

_Maybe when he's no longer a scared Academy student... he'll enjoy Ichiraku Ramen._

"You two," Rin begins with her sick voice and giggle. "I'm so happy we're spending time together! Thank you so much for inviting me, Obito!"

"Ah! Well, um... Akemi told me to get you. "

Rin looks at me as if I'm some kind of phenomenon. "Ehhhhh! Akemi _you_ wanted to hang out?"

Awkward, ears burning, I hunch up my shoulders.

"Cuuuute! Akemi is growing out her shell! I'm so proud!"

And when she smiles, it's precious and makes my heart skip a beat.

And when Obito sees her joy, he begins to grin, too. Her eyes are closed, so he shoots me a look with only one meaning: _Thanks for making her smile._

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

I get my first real break in winter when there's a sudden snowfall.

The path to Nishi-sensei's shop is too iced over for walking.

Since everything is kinda snowy and cold, the Minakura Clan is homebound.

"An-chaaan!"

I deliberately keep my eyes shut.

Sayaka lifts my eyelids open, however. "Are you awake?"

I mumble something.

"Great! I need your help!" She picks me up and marches down the hall. Without any windows, it's dimly lit. Perfect for sleeping. _Until_ she opens a room door and causes sunlight to pour out. "Can you _please_ tell Satoshi animals like the snow?"

I'm not an animals expert?

Sayaka tucks her hands under my armpits and holds me out to view everything.

Sayaka's twin brother Satoshi Minakura barely looks any different from her. Both have short, black hair and eyes. As opposed to her happy greens, Satoshi sticks with dull blues and an overall dull appearance.

Rarely do I ever enter Sayaka's room (I'll never give her the homefield advantage like that) much less her twin brother's, so entering Satoshi's room is a foreign experience. At first, I see Satoshi sitting in his immaculate bed, petting a tabby cat. Around him is a blue and gray colored room, so clean, so flawless it seems an alien came by and fixed it.

And yet, somewhere in this room, Satoshi has dozens of animal pets.

"Look at the messy state she's in," Satoshi says, pointing at me. His cat hops off his lap with the sudden motion. "She just woke up."

"Honestly, Satoshi, she's always just waking up throughout the day." She throws me onto his bed and slides his door shut.

His bed is cozy... smells like it's just been washed... I can sleep like this.

"For crying out loud." Satoshi curses and sits me straight. "Can you tell Sayaka I refuse to let any animal outside this house with this weather?"

"Animals in snow is the cutest thing imaginable!" Sayaka stomps her foot. "I _know_ you have that pig still! So just let it meet snow for the first time!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Isn't snow cold water? Drop your fish in the snow and see them swim!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

I can sleep sitting up like this, even if Satoshi keeps shaking me.

"You're too overprotective!"

"You lack the ability to care for a pet rock!"

Sayaka gasps. "What if... I use my mission money to buy that chinchilla you wanted?"

Satoshi stops shaking me and lets go. I fall back into his fluffy pillows and relax... until he starts tidying the bed underneath me. "Don't be crazy... you've been saving up for your dress when you make Special Jounin."

"I know, but... there's nothing more hilarious in the world than watching animals freak out about snow!"

"I don't want a pet just because you're amused!"

"Satoshiiiii!"

"Get out my room! And take Akemi with you!"

"No, An-chan's your burden, just like her nickname!"

At that, both Satoshi and I wince. He, of all people, will never call me "An-chan", mainly because the nickname is all his fault.

"Akemi," Satoshi pleads, "leave my room."

"But... I want to sleep," I plead back.

"You act like it's difficult for you to go back to sleep," he retorts.

I mumble something and close my eyes.

"Isn't An-chan a great burden? How on earth will you get rid of her without leaving your room and unsupervised animals behind...?"

Satoshi growls. Sayaka giggles.

Then he shouts, "Mother! If you make Akemi rice congee, I'll give you money to go to the hot springs!"

Sayaka breathes in with a painful rasp. "How. Could. You?"

Auntie shouts from somewhere in the house: "Hanae, get the sieve, I gotta wash some rice!"

Sayaka runs away, shouting, "No, Mommy, don't do it!"

Finally, I can sleep...

At least until the smell of my favorite food interrupts my dream. I get out my bed and kind of stumble a bit. If I blink, I can still see my dream.

"Akemi, are you leaving?" Satoshi says to me. I dunno why he's in my room.

Once the spoon full of blissfully hot congee hits my mouth, I doze off again.

Later that day, the siblings continue arguing.

Mom has earmuffs on as she works on papers. Auntie is loudly sharpening her kunai. I'm trying to get cozy on the couch to sleep again, missing the warmth of food in my tummy.

And then the two of them barrel into the living room.

Mom looks up at the movement and shouts at Auntie, "I think your children need you!"

Auntie covers Mom's mouth. "They're your children when they act like this."

Dang, I can't run to Nishi-sensei in this weather.

"Sayaka is trying to bring snow up into my room and fill my tub with it," Satoshi complains. "It's melting everywhere!"

"It's not my fault he's worried about it being too cold and dry outside, so this is the best of both worlds!"

"How did you... get the snow all the way to his tub?" I say and yawn.

"Hard work, An-chan. Hard work."

"Why are you so desperate to do this?" Satoshi glowers at his sister. "Get a life!"

"My family and friends _are_ my life! Besides, what have you been doing all day? Nothing. Nothing but being a killjoy."

"I am a responsible parent for my animal children!"

"Are you sure? 'Cause it's impossible to have so many animals and have a clean room! Seems to me you give your room more TLC than your pets."

"_Enough_!"

Auntie grabs their heads and shoves them together, dazing the twins.

"It's the holiday season! So shut up and get along!"

Sayaka is the first to recover. "Any harder, and I would've popped."

Satoshi snaps out of his daze immediately. "What was that?"

Sayaka? shakes her head furiously. "Sorry, I was just confused! Forget—"

Satoshi slashes his kunai across her chest (disobeying the no ninja fighting in the house rule) and Sayaka pops.

"_A shadow clone_?" Satoshi roars, running back up the stairs.

Auntie sits and continues sharpening kunai. Mom looks over and shouts, "Did they work it out?"

"We'll see soon," Auntie says.

"What? I can't hear you!"

I start to doze until I hear them running down the stairs again. Their steps are kinda heavy...

Am I shaking?

I look at Auntie. Auntie looks at Mom. Mom takes off her earmuffs.

"Oh no."

Shortly after we say that, five dozen animals run through the living room and out the unlocked door. Sayaka runs after them, taking picture after picture. Satoshi comes down much later, half tied up.

"We should run," Mom says softly. "Grandmother... probably heard that."

Auntie grins. "Satoshi gave me money for the hot springs, but I guess we can use it to stay the night in an inn."

Nodding in unison, we flee.

"...that's why I'm late," I conclude.

Kachime-sensei has a thick bead of sweat rolling down his face. "Your cousin... was the reason we got so many animal calls throughout the week?"

I scratch my neck, still sore from scratches. "Sorry..."

I have to wait until lunchtime to see my second to last rank of the year.

"Tied for second place...?"

Rin nods. "You know, the grades you two get are so close. Ss in one subject area and high As the rest. No wonder you tied."

Complex feelings surround my heart. There's this bitterness that all of my hard work seems to be irrelevant. There's this fear of what's on the other side of second place. But if I don't linger on it, the feelings almost vanish.

"...how are you still first, Rin?" I say, not expecting much.

"Ah, um... I make Ss in two things: chakra control and Kunoichi Class. Hanabira-sensei is such a harsh grader, nobody else makes Ss. That must be it."

I see. There aren't many clan children in the class who are also female. It makes sense there aren't any girls who'd work hard in that class. Even Kurenai carries herself in an elegant way not taught to us by Hanabira.

So... to beat Rin... I need three classes where I make Ss in.

"Are you going to take the graduation test?" Obito says to Rin, still grumpy his rank hasn't changed.

"I need one more year of medical training, then I'll take it," she says.

"Well, if Rin doesn't do it, neither will I!"

"Of course... you're still dead last," I say, wondering why he's trying to be so agreeable.

Obito gets defensive and defensive means he shouts without a care in the world. "Hey, I'm getting better! My Fireball Technique actually looks like a Fireball, thank you! And I bought new eye drops that'll awaken my Sharingan faster!"

Throughout the day, I try to find two subjects I can make an S on.

I should be making Ss in history, right? Considering I know both the past and future of this world through my soul. It's just that, I never really study history because of it, so it's easy to make As. If I tried a bit harder, that can be my S.

And... maybe math? It's easy if I have the formulas remembered and I use it often enough. If I worked a bit more instead of giving up, I could make Ss.

I study for the two of the subjects very diligently. I test myself, get others to test me. When I take my last exam of third year, I wait eagerly for the rankings.

Rin gasps. "No way..."

We are tied for first place.

"...dont be mad, Rin," I say. "I know you said... you needed high scores to continue your med ninja training."

"I'm not mad. Obviously, you're very smart. Besides... ranks aren't everything, so it's okay."

Rin smiles but... I feel like she's disappointed. After all, she held that spot for three years. Now some greenie is going to take it away.

"You don't have to be polite... I won't beat you if it hurts."

"Absolutely _not_! I won't forgive myself if I beat the you who isn't doing her best." Rin giggles. "I guess I'll have to work harder, huh?"

As she leaves to talk to Kurenai, I go over to Obito who grits his teeth at his unchanging rank.

"Hey..." I whisper, "Rin is an angel."

Instantly, he's in his lovey-dovey mode. "Right? She's amazing! The Gods sent down an angel!"

"Yes... I see why you like her."

"I do _not_!"

The background murmurings of the class silence. I don't have to look hard to know there are eyes on us. In fact, Obito fidgets with his goggles and laughs with a bashful expression. As soon as the tension wanes, he whispers. "Is it obvious...?"

Oh...

He didn't tell me his crush.

My fingers find their way to my hair, just to do something. "Lucky guess..."

"You can't tell her," he says, eyes blacker than normal as he leans in close. "You _can't_."

I nod, ignoring the urge to lean away. My personal space. I need it. It's too awkward, too tense. "B-But... shouldn't you tell her? Maybe she'll—"

"She likes someone else. Someone you dunno. And if I tell her..." His weary face seems more fitting for an adult, not a child. "I don't want to lose her as a friend."

"...but loving her in secret... isn't much better."

"Yeah. Least she's my friend! And everything won't be all weird!"

"Obito..."

I start to scold him... but what's the point? They're so young... so many years until their deaths. No seven- or eight-year-old needs to worry about romance or do anything to tarnish the idea. Of course... if I save them both, they might just have a good end together.

(If I said anything... I don't want to lose my only friends.)

"She's amazing, Akemi," Obito starts, maybe trying to justify his actions for my "impending" lecture. "I can't stop these feelings. I want to make her happy just like she makes me."

He smiles to himself, a lovey-dovey smile. A smile even softer and precious than Rin's.

"I'll be at your side," I blurt, surprising _me_, "until your feelings reach Rin."

Obito gawks, stunned.

I tilt my head, feeling my ears burn. Maybe I could convince him to forget that. "...wrong words?"

"No, it's just... I never really hear you speak so clearly and strongly." Obito fidgets with his goggles's strap. "Does... this mean we're best friends now?"

I nod. "Yup, definitely."

Was it not clear before? I guess I'm not good with friends.

But all my best friends in my life... Sayaka (arguably)... Gramma... Dad... Nishi-sensei... oh, there's something they all do in common. Maybe it's just a best friends thing.

"We are best friends," I repeat. "So... let's give each other nicknames."

"Really? Best friends do that?"

I guess we're both really bad at this.

"You're a bit older than me, so how does _Akemi-nee_ sound?"

I repeat it in my head. "Sounds nice. For me... you'll be... um... Obi..."

_Obito-nii sounds really strange._

"...tobi..."

_If I can't stop him from being a villain, if I call him Tobi, he'd probably change his name to something different_.

"...kun," is all I have for a nickname.

"Obitobi-kun," Obito repeats dryly. "That doesn't really make sense. I mean... it sounds nice, but there's no meaning!"

"Ah, um..."

Obito says it sounds nice and I literally cannot think of anything else. That'll be his placeholder nickname until something better comes along.

"Does Rin... have any best friends? Maybe she knows how this works..."

Obito frowns at that. "Rin doesn't have any friends other than me. It's really strange, though. She's so kind and caring. Everyone has nothing but nice things to say about her. But she lacks any real bond with them. Maybe it's because she's so smart and hardworking... she can't really relate to most girls."

"_Rin_...?"

It's... so familiar from my first few weeks at school. I thought we were friends... we were friendly enough, but there's always this distance. Rarely does Rin hangout with our classmates if it's not group parties or bumping into them in public.

But _why_ is there this distance despite everything?

Is it a clan thing?

Or... is it something one-sided?

For some reason, I begin to picture Sayaka.

"Kurenai and Rin... aren't close friends?" I say.

Obito exhales. "They were close when were first years, but... I dunno. It's not like Kurenai's mean, she just barely hangs out with Rin now."

_Could it be... competition?_

(Kurenai is sweet as a Jounin, but as a child...?)

"But it doesn't matter 'cause she's got me!" Obito grins cheekily. "And now she's got you too!"

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

The second year of Academy is a lot more easy to handle. It's just more of the same. Now with a concrete goal in mind for number one, I work for it with everything I got.

Nishi-sensei still lets me train and occasionally teaches me, as punishment for not being the only number one. It's very motivating in its own way.

I also decide to ask Satoshi for his help, since he spent so much to make my favorite food. Unlike Sayaka, Satoshi is excellent in academics—his favorites at least. Sayaka works better with the practical side of things.

"Sorry that Sayaka... kinda killed... your fish," I say one evening, after looking at his mourning shrine.

Satoshi's expression darkens. "She actually thought fish can swim in snow."

"...now... we're all wiser." I gingerly move in his ultra tidy room, worried to break the harmony.

"Pftt..." He chuckles. "If anything, you're wiser, Akemi. I never expected you to pass the entrance exam let alone tie for top kunoichi."

I look away. "...it's exhausting. The work... the training... if I didn't have friends or you guys... I couldn't do it."

Satoshi's smile is ever so slightly condescending.

"Yup, that's the cost of doing something you're not good at. It's not easy. If you could, you would spend your entire life sleeping because it's easy. But waking up is harder."

I put my chin on his table, exhausted from the sudden weight. "...that's hard, too."

"You know, if you really need some relief, bring your friends over here. We'll be good hosts and hostesses... so long as Sayaka stops _eavesdropping_!"

From behind the screen door, Sayaka cries, "I was walking by and just happened to hear you!"

"For an hour?"

"It was a long walk!"

Satoshi groans. "She's feeling guilty for what happened."

"Will you... forgive her?"

He smirks. "Oh, I'm mostly over it. It's just funny to make her suffer a bit longer. As soon as I admit I'm not mad any more, it's back to the old Sayaka."

"I don't know which Sayaka I like more," I wonder.

Satoshi nods and looks outside briefly. "Gah, it's getting late! You need to get some rest. Tomorrow is your Shinobi Hand to Hand Combat spar, right? You better up those high marks."

I close my textbook unenthusiastically. "Right..."

Pain? Bruising? Exertion? How can I be excited?

"I'm so excited!" Obito cries as we make a ring outside. "While you two were in your club thing, I would watch the big kids spar. It was intense!"

Rin's smile is too shaky for her to be calm. "I'm not really good at this kind of thing... I hope I get an easy opponent... Gods, please hear me."

It seems like the Bunny Gods do hear and bless Obito and Rin with victories. Obito comes back a bit more bruised and in pain than Rin, which makes me nervous.

"Anko Mitarashi versus Akemi Minakura," Kachime-sensei calls, yellow clipboard decorated with bells at the ready.

(Where's my luck? Did I use it all up?)

I face Anko warily. She seems ready to fight, though, chuckling under her breath.

Grades on spars are based on clean techniques or an automatic A for winning the fight. So for someone like me who can't stand spars but needs to stay number one, I can't very well lose.

"Ready? Then... Begin!"

Anko is the kind of person who'd always have the first hit, so it's no surprise to see her dashing to me, fist raised. It's easy to side step. Anko turns as soon as do, unleashing a barrage of left and right punches I have to block and slap away. No hits land. Anko growls and I see her sway her weight to her front leg. A shin kick. She's planning on hitting my leg and crippling me. And as she's wearing boots, it's gonna hurt even more.

_Get her away before she hits you—_

I slap away both of her hands and shove my own into her chest. With a cough, Anko staggers backwards. Once she's balanced, she jumps at me, gritting her teeth. Her foot is coming towards my face.

I run under her so when she lands, she'll have to turn to see me. As soon as the tip of her boot presses against the ground, I deliver a sharp blow to her back in form of a roundhouse kick.

She staggers but starts her assault anew, undaunted.

_Those hits would've left me down—_

In the distance I've created, Anko has enough room to push off the ground and kick. Her subsequent attacks start off easy to predict. But after a spin and a reverse kick, I start backing up, too worried to be so close. I lose track of Anko. I lose track of what she's doing. As a result, Anko's foot slams into my chest, sending me a bit airborne as I crash onto the ground.

That... that really hurts. I suck in a breath to prevent my chest from moving too much. Sadly, my basic stance requires much of my chest, which sends sparks of pain through me.

Anko took the time for me to get up to catch her breath. Ready, she dashes to me.

_Punch? Kick?_ I hold my hands up to block.

Anko drives what seems to be an open hand heel punch towards me. I aim to push her wrist away, but... she latches onto my hand.

_What are you—_

As I struggle to tear her hand off, she hops over me, keeping my hand in place as she lands behind me.

_Oh, I see_.

Both of my hands are on the opposite side of Anko. Therefore, nothing can stop her from punching my stomach once, twice—each jostling my still sore chest. I'm already wincing as she draws back her fist for another punch. _Please_ not another...

My foot rises and falls on something uneven. Anko cries out, the punch stops. My heel makes contact with the back of her heel and pulls.

Aren't we both falling now?

Pins... end matches, right?

The pain is way too much... this has to end now.

I force Anko's body to turn over and fall on top of it. Smacking onto the ground this inelegantly hurts us both. But like this, her cheek is pressed onto the ground and her other arm is in my grip. I put strain on her elbow and shoulder, almost waiting to see which will break before Anko surrenders.

Anko shouts in frustration, blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

And I drop onto the concrete, the body in my hands now replaced by a log.

_H-How... did she...?_

A sudden shadow falls over me. Like an angry god, Anko is there, fist heading for my face. She's raging, she's making mistakes. Her stance is so awkwardly wide, I could fit through it.

Huh.

So I slide under her.

Her punch leaves her falling forwards a bit, leaving enough time for me to stand and cough. I'm still debating how I should use this advantage when the girl glares over her shoulder, eyes bloodshot and burning.

Without the slightest telegraph, she reverse kicks me in the face.

The world turns black with glitters of silver and blue. I can definitely feel my face getting hotter and hotter. Something slippery and liquid replaces my dry skin. When I open my eyes, it's always the same: a fist thrown my way by an angry girl.

We are two very different people in battle. Anko is lively and energetic. Pain doesn't seem to register for she stands back up and fights harder.

I do everything possible to avoid worsening my own pain. I don't have the stamina.

My classmates, my teacher... all are watching me. Expecting. It's mentally exhausting.

Anko is experienced and talented. The only thing holding her back is her temper which makes her clumsy and inefficient. I take advantage of it as best I can. I know I'm getting tired. I know I can't last long.

_I need this A, Anko. I'm sorry—_

Our stalemate comes to an end with a widely thrown punch. With my everything, I dodge away and skid to a harsh stop facing her back. As Anko careens forward due to the momentum, I can easily swing my arm around her neck, grab my fist just under the back of her head, and squeeze.

"That's it! The spar is over!"

I let her go and pant. Anko is coughing and spins on me violently, eyes bloodshot and burning.

(Can I even stop her? Everything hurts...)

"Stop mocking me! You're just begging for me to beat you up, dopey! Just you wait!" Anko grips my two fingers in hers. The Seal of Reconciliation means nothing. If anything, her fury has grown from this match.

_There's no winning..._

I sit down next to Rin and Obito, planning on going to the nurse after I nap. (Do chests burn this much?) They both compliment me, but... I wonder if I should have just lost this fight.

This heavy feeling stays with me all day long. On Saturday, I practice Shuriken Techniques to distract me somewhat, even dozing off while I toss. Nishi-sensei jostles me awake before I get too far into dreamland, going, "What's up with you? This is way too quiet, even for your standards."

"Exhaustion," I sigh. Behind her, the shuriken stuck to the target seem so far away. "Nishi-sensei... would you be so kind and... grab the shuriken for me?"

"What? No way... then you'll just call me again to repeat the same thing. I'm not doing that much walking for a girl who tied for first." Nishi-sensei extends her fingers towards the target, staring intently. At once, the weapon fly in reverse to her hand. She gives them to me. "Just be grateful I did that."

I can feel how wide my eyes are. "What... what was that?"

"Chakra Strings. You've never heard of them before? Geez..." Holding her hands out, I can see very faint, blue strings pouring from her fingers. "Instead of using chakra to cover the entire surface of your hand to get to stick, concentrate the chakra to form a string. With it being this concentrated, it's easy to extend the chakra further from your body. Naturally, it means you need excellent chakra control, which I think you do. I _hope_ so, with your tiny, crappy reserves."

All those times... I could have just pulled the weapons using strings... instead of walking...

"Amazing, Sensei..." I praise. "I didn't know... you could do so much..."

Nishi-sensei rasps my head. "Don't you underestimate me, just because I hate being a ninja! I've been in the Academy since I was five and became a Chuunin at fifteen. Of course I can do a few things."

"Eh? Then... how old—"

"Either train or get lost," Nishi-sensei orders.

At the beginning of the third semester, I've finally become the only top kunoichi.

Looking at the ranking board, I don't feel very happy. Rin is in second, Kurenai, Anko...

"Congratulations, Akemi," Rin smiles with closed eyes. "Even working my hardest, you still beat me, so know that I gave it my all."

I want to give her a hug. I settle on saying, "I'm sorry. I feel like a burden..."

Rin quickly shakes her head. "You can't feel bad! Didn't you work hard for this? All those times we could hang out because you had to work, it all led up to this, right?"

I huff. "...what a bittersweet victory."

Nothing really seems to change. It bothers me whenever I think about nothing for too long. Rin and Obito still invite me places, talk, eat lunch with me. Rin still helps me out in our Kunoichi Class. I still help her with Shuriken Techniques and sparring.

But why won't this heaviness go away?

Nishi-sensei, though, gives me another requirement: pass the graduation exam.

"You want to graduate?" Rin says, wide eyed with surprise.

"I get that you're older than us, but are you sure we're ready?" Obito folds his arms and puts them behind his head, feigning nonchalance.

"...I think the future Hokage can do this," I say, "and Rin's bound to be a great medical ninja. If we do this... I know we'll all pass. We can be on a team together."

"Oh, we could probably see Kakashi on missions," Rin adds, warming to the idea.

Obito grumbles under his breath. "I don't understand why you focus so much on Kakashidiot. _I'm_ going to be the Hokage here!"

"Hm... I think his ability to endure is amazing," Rin says shyly. "I look up to him as well as you, Obito."

Obito... doesn't really complain.

"Did I hear that right? You three are going to take the test too?" Kurenai's soft voice breaks the silence. "Asuma said he'd try, as the top ninja."

Obito audibly grits his teeth. "No surprise there—isn't he Hokage-sama's son?"

"That sounds like a plan," Rin says. "Like this, we can remain friends once we all pass the test."

Somehow the entire classroom knows of our plans and soon majority of the class is taking it along with us. Instead of taking finals for our last semester, we pay the fee for the test and wait for our turn to take it.

When I enter the testing room, I feel like a vastly different person from the me who took the entrance exam.

"Akemi Minakura, it's nice to meet you."

The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi stands taller than the three other Academy teachers, three shinobi I don't know the names of. In one of their hands is my file judging by my name and personal information being on the first page.

This isn't the first or last time I'll meet him again. Thankfully... thankfully he has so long to live.

Most of my classmates are already outside, faces bright and happy. A few faces are grim but, nevertheless many people graduate. Even people I wouldn't expect.

_Don't get too happy. The Leaf is just trying to build its numbers before the Third Great Shinobi War._

This forehead protector and certificate in my hands hardly feel earned.

Rin already has her forehead protector tied around her head as she jogs to me, saying, "Akemi, have you seen Obito?"

"Ah... congratulations on passing," I say, unnecessarily bowing a bit. "No, um... I just got out."

Rin finally spots the navy blue headband. "Congratulations to you, too! I knew you'd make it!"

"...Obito too," I tell her. "...if he's missing... Kachime-sensei knows where he is, probably."

"Oh, Sensei's a Chuunin, of course! If that's the case, I saw Sensei over here..."

Before long, we find Obito with his own forehead protector, eyes shining with tears. In celebration, we eat at Ichiraku Ramen.

I get home with a full stomach and with the forehead protector being an awkward weight in my hands. I don't even need to say anything, for Sayaka sees it, picks me up, and drops me in front of my family wordlessly.

Satoshi chokes on his drink.

Auntie grins, cheeks turning red.

Gramma smiles big.

Mom stares at it, mouth open.

And home for once is Dad who gazes at the forehead protector and says simply, "Oh, is Akemi in the Academy?"

* * *

**small steps chapter 6 **| _rising_

* * *

Akemi-nee exception: I am not translating this as _Big Sis Akemi_ or _Big Sister Akemi_.

Obitobi-kun exception: this only personal preference. If it makes sense... I imagine the world to canonically speak Japanese, not English. However, Akemi _is_ translating the Japanese and her Japanese narrative into English. So, everyone does have honorifics Akemi is choosing not to translate. But she doesn't translate _Obitobi-kun_ because she always addresses everyone with _-san_ or nothing, so he's a big exception. I will drop the honorific if people request to do so.

I took a page from reality for Rin's scenario. Knew a girl from secondary school, sweet and adorable. Yet she never had a best friend, just plenty of acquaintances. It was bizarre to see such a kind girl so lonely.

Also, planning to translate Japanese dishes; I feel like if I don't, I'd just have to describe it in detail or force you to search it. Rice congee is called _okayu_ which is basically rice oatmeal, easy to make and pretty plain tasting even with an _umeboshi _(a bittersweet fruit) and _nanakusa_ (sevendiff herbs) topping. (I forgot their precise English equivalents, haha.)


	7. 02:07

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**genin akemi-chan:** _team_

**years til nine tails:** 6_ years, 7 months_

**akemi:** 11_ years, 11 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

"Oh, welcome back, Dad," I say.

"Thank you." Dad, the son of Gramma, usually has his eyes reduced to a happy curve of black eyelashes. Despite that, he can somehow see just fine. He sits on the couch, pleasantly happy in his deep purple shirt too big for his body. Unlike everyone in this house, Dad has long hair he keeps in a low ponytail.

Typically, Dad is away on missions. As breadwinner of this family, he is the best civilian-nin we have to offer. He's also the very first one, trained by his mother no less. Perhaps it's the countless pranks Gramma's pulled on him while growing or having to deal with twin sisters that makes him so efficient. It honestly is a mystery.

But when Dad's home like this, it's hard to imagine him as a competent civilian-nin machine.

"Does that letter say something about being a Genin?" Dad says. "Why would you need that?"

(Or... competent in general.)

"She's passed the graduation exam, dear," Gramma says, using _dear_.

"Oh. Why did you that, Akemi?"

"To... become a Genin," I reply.

"Ah. So now you're a Genin." He smiles harder. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Hm... Hanae won't like this," he says sagely, almost as if he doesn't know Mom is right next to him.

"Ahhhhh! My An-chan actually _graduated_? To think, I never once imagined you becoming a Genin!" With a shout, tears are falling down Sayaka's cheeks. Satoshi dimly pats her back, prompting her to lean into his shoulder and cry.

"This... this is something," Satoshi admits. "I'm really proud of you, Akemi!"

"_Proud_? Get this girl a present! Give her an early birthday!" Auntie slams her hands on the table, rocking it severely. "I feel like stealing something beautiful for her!"

"Are we having an earthquake?" Dad says, pretty mildly alarmed if we were having one.

"Thanks you all... I thought you'd be upset." I didn't tell them about taking it nor did I want their opinion. If they were going to protect me, surely they wouldn't want me to graduate. Yet here they all are, excited and proud. It makes my chest heavy, but with a good heaviness.

Until I look at Mom who's not smiling.

"Mom, I..." don't know how to finish this sentence.

At that, everyone stares at Mom nervously. Except for Dad who says, "Oh, Hanae, Akemi is a Genin. You said you'd be scared if this day were to come. Are you scared?"

Mom nods.

"Hm... yes, it is a bit alarming. A ninja is a dangerous path of darkness. But, in it, exists light. Things like Lord Hokage's strength... or being able to pay the bills and keep you all happy. Not to mention how great it is to run on roofs. Very convenient."

"Rinji Minakura," Mom warns.

"You'll always worry," Dad says, "that's just who you are. For your daughter to do something you tried and feared... it's hard to be happy, huh? Should I be upset, too? I feel glad." Confused, he scratches the top of his head before his oversized sleeve falls over his wrist and swallows up his hand.

"You _liked_ ninja stuff... I could never," Mom says. "It doesn't make sense. Why am I the only one who sees how bad this is? Why are we all accepting this? Akemi isn't like any of us! She's different. We shouldn't hold her to our standards because that would be unfair to her!"

Nobody dares talk back.

(At any second, she'll cry and Auntie will have to keep her vow.)

"Protecting her forever," Dad repeats absentmindedly. "...Isn't that the same? Akemi didn't have a healthy beginning and it's possibly going to affect her life. But I just keep imaging that the alternative, keeping her safe in here, won't make her any stronger. I say let her work for whatever she wants—that's where strength lies."

"Rinji, you're supposed to be on _my_ side! She's your _only_ daughter! Don't you want her to have healthy, happy life? Despite all she's been through?" Mom's eyes are shining with unshed tears.

"...it's because she's my only daughter that I fight against you, Hanae."

The room temperature just got way chilly.

_Auntie_ blinks in fear at Dad.

Before... Dad used to mention it was impossible to get Gramma to say _I love you_. Dad was trained as a ninja by a woman who wasn't one. She worked Dad to the bone.

"_The sweetest thing Mother told me was dinner was ready_," he reminisced to me, smiling. "_If I was picky and didn't eat all my food, training would be hell the next day..._"

...which wasn't surprising. Gramma lived through the Warring States period and two great wars already.

(She's a lot softer now,thankfully.)

One would think Dad would gain some kind of hardness from that upbringing, but _no_, he's a puppy to Mom's teddy bear.

_Until_ he argued with Mom.

(This is the very. Very. Very. First time Dad has ever argued back.)

"I don't think sheltering her will lead to a happy life," Dad continues, thoughtfully. "If anything, you'd be very happy, which is nice, but it comprises her happiness. But... if Akemi is a ninja, you're not happy, and I want you to be happy, too. I say find happiness in the path Akemi works to build rather than being sad she hasn't picked the end you like. Just like Gramma believed in the you who would be a civilian-nin like your sister, your happiness is as a mother and leader of the house."

Mom... can't say anything. She looks like an abandoned stray, like fragile glass. Dad places an arm around her, but it's as if he doesn't exist from her lack of reaction.

"...don't worry, Hanae, let's give this pain some time to become bearable. In the meantime... Akemi, let's celebrate with your moon cheese."

"Huh? Oh? Right..."

I jog to my room, silently saying my _thank yous_ to Dad. I had no idea how I would face Mom. Plus not many people in this house would volunteer to shatter the bubble of someone so caring. My solution was to just avoid the issue until I couldn't ignore it.

I'm so, so glad Dad came home today. Because, I just realized, he has a say so about my life just as much as Mom does.

I bring the moon cheese downstairs and serve a slice to everyone. The cheese tastes just like normal cheese to me, but Dad _loves_ it.

Mom sniffs it and gives her slice to Dad. "That smells disgusting. I'm sorry, I can't eat this..."

Gramma takes a few bites. "Hm. Tastes old, doesn't it?"

Auntie is eating her cheese, eyes narrowed. "This... this tastes so... bland. It's like tofu, Hanae!"

Sayaka only eats a small piece of Satoshi's slice, having given it to Dad. When Satoshi takes a bite out of his slice, he grimaces and also gives his plate to Dad.

In the end, Dad and I share the cheese.

(Maybe there _is_ something off about this cheese?)

Later that night, Dad and Mom go to their room early while the rest are quizzing me about what I should expect for my graduation ceremony tomorrow. Apparently, teams will be called, the Hokage will be there, and it's going to be this grand, moral-boosting thing for a world waiting to war again.

Sayaka personally tucks me into bed early.

* * *

**small steps chapter 7 **| _team_

* * *

I make it to the ceremony an hour before it starts, with my family on the way. Many children of all ages are here, including my classmates and my friend, Rin Nohara. On her head rests her forehead protector, simultaneously nostalgic and odd placed her once bare head.

(I still don't know what to do with mine...)

Rin can't stop giggling. "I'm so nervous! And happy! And nervous...!"

Until she said that, I felt nothing. Now, I keep thinking of Rin, Obito and me all splitting apart. "Ah... uh... me too."

"I'm also worried about Obito. I couldn't enter the Uchiha Compound today, probably because so many Uchiha are going to be coming here," Rin says, guiding me to our seats. "I guess it's a safety hazard."

"...he'll definitely be here. No matter what."

"Yup, I can always count on that. It's just... this is such an important, once in a life thing. I want to share this experience together..."

Rin saves a seat on the edge of the row for Obito. She's quiet right now and I don't think I should bother her.

_I told him several times yesterday to not be late no matter what. I even told him Rin will be very sad forever. If he's still late..._

"Sorry I'm late!"

Nothing in the world could measure how fast Rin perks up seeing Obito sit down next to her.

"I felt so bad not helping Granny today," Obito pants. "She won't be mad, yeah?"

Rin's smile is so bright, I don't think she can stop it. "Thank you so much for being here, Obito. I was really anxious but... since you're here, I can't be anymore!"

Obito blushes. "W-Well, I try my best! So... don't worry! This day will be awesome!"

The building is soon packed with kids, families, and ninja everywhere. All around us, hope is born. I can see it through smiles and laughs and the odd camera or two to record this event forever.

Even from here, I can see my family.

My heart beats fast.

Hiruzen starts off the ceremony with an inspiring speech and, with the aid of the headmaster of the Ninja Academy, all the graduates step up to get their certificates in order of their teams.

"Team Orochimaru," the headmaster calls, drawing everyone's attention. "Yaiba Yamahada, Ninigi, and Anko Mitarashi."

They claim their certificates one by one.

"Oh, Anko really idolizes Lord Orochimaru," Rin comments. "She's very lucky!"

Obito humphs. "Weirdo attracts weirdo, I say."

Rin frowns briefly at him, scolding, "Don't be so mean, Obito!"

All I know is that as Anko walks back to her seat with her certificate in hand, I feel sadness.

"Team Okibi," calls the headmaster. "Asuma Sarutobi, Raidou Namiashi, Kurenai Yuuhi!"

"Huh?" Rin pauses to wave at Kurenai as she passes by then adds, "Usually the top kunoichi is paired with the dead last and top ninja. So... Kurenai's team is completely off..."

"It's probably for the best," Obito says, grinning. "We'll be on a team for sure!"

I grip my sweater tightly. There's so, so many people graduating, so what if Team Minato ends up being _different_ somehow—

"Team Chouza! Might Guy, Genma Shiranui, and Rin Nohara!"

Rin pales and stands automatically.

I...

feel...

faint...

So we're separated after all.

(Separated.)

I never wanted to imagine this scenario. If it were me, that's okay. Not Rin.

Rin drops into her seat, paler than the certificate held tightly in her hands. "I guess... we won't be on the same team."

"Why? That's no fair, Rin! Lord Hokage is right there, so ask him! That's not...!" Obito huffs.

"I'm sorry, I guess our skills aren't very compatible in a team," she says, voice growing soft. "Even so, this could be a good thing. Change is scary, but great."

"But, Rin...!"

Obito face is contorted with pain, just like that day he saw her die.

Still... Rin forces a smile to console him.

The very Rin who'd do everything for others and nothing for herself...

"Promise me, you two."

They both look at me.

"...no matter how far we get... promise me we'll always be friends," I finish.

Rin is my first friend.

Without her... the Ninja Academy would've worn me down. I would've quit.

Rin nods, mouth curved upwards, but it's lacking its usual charm. "Of course. This won't be the end of our friendship!"

_Rin... I say this now because... I think I might know what will happen next._

"Team Minato!"

_Call it a second soul or a crappy reincarnation, but I've always known what to expect in the future._

"Obito Uchiha—"

_You'll probably hate me forever after this._

"Kakashi Hatake—"

_I will make this up to you, Rin Nohara. How...? I'll protect your first friend, Obito Uchiha. I won't let him suffer such a tragic fate. And then maybe..._

"Akemi Minakura!"

Somehow this slice of paper feels like a thousand kilograms.

"That's incredible, Obito, Akemi... you're on the same team as Kakashi," Rin says softly, wearily. "Tell him I say hello, okay?"

"Tell him yourself," Obito says. "You'll meet him again after I rant to Lord Hokage about these dumb team placements. I mean, me and _Kakashidiot_? Rin, we're supposed to be together! That doesn't make any sense...!"

"Obito, it's alright, it makes sense I'm not on your team! I don't have the proper skills. But, hey, I think I'll see him again around the Leaf! I can't wait!"

I don't know why... but I hug Rin.

She's frozen, not expecting a hug, certainly not expecting it from _me_. Then she hugs back, murmuring, "Hey... you _are_ good with people, Akemi. Sorry... all of this... kind of... hurts my heart."

Rin leaves soon after the graduation is over with a forced smile and kind words. Obito and I, obviously picking up on it, trade a look.

"You and Kakashi," I say. "The Leaf... is terrible at team placements."

"I _know_! Can you believe they won't change it? It pisses me off!"

"...Rin is sad."

"Yeah... I hate it so much. It's no fair. Who'd a-thought things would end up like this."

My heart throbs painfully. But if I don't pay attention, it's almost not there.

"...so, we meet our new sensei tomorrow morning."

(_The_ man himself.)

Obito isn't happy with the topic change, but says, "I'll be there. I'll try not to be late, Akemi-nee."

"Yeah. Me too..."

* * *

**small steps chapter 7 **| _team_

* * *

Excitement is buzzing all thoroughout my house hearing Minato and Kakashi will be on my team. Minato is already a brilliant ninja, a man who even makes Mom a bit relieved. And Kakashi... the twins couldn't stop talking about how much of a golden child he is.

_He was! Chuunin! By! Six! _Sayaka shouted. _No doubt the great White Fang himself took the genius on missions! I'm so jealous!_

Their energy remains long after my bedtime and at dawn. Too anxious to sleep, but too tired to stay awake, I float between some awkward medium while I eat a small breakfast and head to the rendezvous.

The training ground Team Minato is set up to have has a nice view of the Third Hokage's side profile... whenever trees aren't in the way. There are very few marks and cracks on the ground, meaning this isn't a popular hotspot. And with it being so far from the heart of the village, maybe Minato had picked this area to hide from villagers.

_Or... fangirls and fanboys?_

While I doubt I'll be as obvious as a stereotypical fangirl... I can't deny I don't feel any admiration for him. After all, _he's_ Naruto's father and he loved the Kushina who believed she was a monster. Coupled with his amazing Flying Thunder God Technique he recreated from the Second Hokage and that his teacher was Jiraiya... I'll definitely admit some part of me is a fangirl.

(The line of my admiration blurs from things I've seen in this reality versus the memories given to me from another reality.)

Still, as I wait in the center of the training ground for my team, I don't have anything to do for three hours. If Minato will do the Bell Test, I shouldn't waste any chakra. He'll kick all our butts, but I want it to be a fair chance.

Oh, Bunny Gods, how the heck am I going to get Obito and Kakashi to work together? Kakashi has never even seen me _once_. We are strangers to the utmost degree. So, he'll have zero patience for me.

And how am I supposed to be the glue that holds those two together?

That's _Rin's_ job.

_I think... I'm going to just die of exhaustion, just like this..._

"—uuup!"

The world is dark and my body is a ton. Something is shaking me, probably the wind... but the more I'm pulled from my dreams, the more I feel fingers and hands and

"Akemi-neeee! Get uuuuup!"

—such a loud voice I can't mistake at all.

Gingerly, I open my eyes, knowing how the sun is going to burn them. I shield my hurt eyes, mumbling, "Obitobi-kun...? How did you... find my house...?"

"What? What kind of bed do you have for you to think this is your house?"

Now that he mentions it, my room smells way too grassy. On my back is something tough and hard. This can't be a bed.

I look again. With my eyes more adjusted, I see greens and browns of a forest.

"Oh... how did I get here?"

"For the love of...! Up up up!"

Obito pulls me to my feet, making me stagger a bit. I rub the pain blossoming on my back from the awkward tree.

I bump into my pouch resting behind me on the way, hearing something metallic ring. Oh, it's not light either. It reminds me of my forehead protector that I didn't know where to place.

I was going to ask Obito where I should put it after Minato's test. If I asked fashion-savvy Sayaka... I'd probably get too annoyed by her antics.

_Wait... if it's in my pouch still... does that mean..._

I stare at Obito who measures my wakefulness. "Hey... are you... early?"

"Well, see, about that... Granny needed help and I was really sorry that I couldn't help out yesterday so—"

"...if I'm here... and you're late... have the others arrived?"

My heart twitches.

"They're the ones who left it up to me to wake you up," Obito says, _as if it were obvious_.

_Where in the Rabbit Goddess are those two?_

Slowly... very deliberately...

I lean past Obito.

Just enough to see...

A grumpy Kakashi who's already doubting my competency.

A blond Minato who smiles nervously and waves.

(Wow... his face is delicate... so pretty.)

_My new teacher... is a total pretty boy._

I am... not prepared for this. Older Kakashi and his new students flash into my head—what are my likes and dislikes and hobbies and dreams?—and I am woefully unprepared. Overwhelmed.

So, somehow, I find myself behind a tree, slightly breathless.

Obito is at my side, saying, "Akemi-nee... you're hiding behind a tree."

"...uh-huh."

"Why...?"

"...dunno."

"We can't just hide here forever! Look at Kakashidiot watchin' us like we're morons! I wanna punch his lights out!"

"Do I have hobbies...?" I murmur. "Training... yes that counts. But... it's so boring, so..."

"Wh-What are you going on about? C'mon, he's really pissing me off!"

Obito pulls me back into the clearing.

_No no no no no nonono no._

It's _Minato_. He's tall—which is a lot considering I'm taller than both boys—so from this angle his golden hair stands out against the vivid greens of tree leaves. The gentle color of his skin only highlights his sky blue eyes.

If he were a portrait, he would be magnificent. He would be the persona of brightness.

However...

His uniform is brand new. The color isn't the slightest bit faded, old blood or dirt scars don't linger, and the fabric hasn't created any permanent wrinkles to match his body type. He moves like a powerful giant who doesn't know his own strength. His furrowed brows, his wobbly smiles, his occasional fidgeting with the kunai in his rear pouch—something comfortable to him—it's all too obvious the competent Hokage, the father and husband of two amazing and trying people, is nothing but a kid who doesn't really know what he's up against.

(Somehow, he comes across as dorky, not a murder machine.)

"Uh, well," Minato begins, smiling again although a nervous bead a sweat falls down his cheek. "Good morning. Congratulations on becoming Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Obito glares at Kakashi who stands (quite far away) on my other side. "Sensei, you're a bit too late for Kakashi."

Kakashi rolls his eyes.

"When you all graduated doesn't matter. What matters is how you will all continue as Genin from this point on. Now, I'd like to get to know all of you. Who would like to go first?"

_Is sleeping a hobby? It's a nice pastime to do all the time..._

(Oh, Minato is a ladykiller, what if he picks me first?)

Thinking that, my body turns and prepares to run for the trees.

A gloved hand catches my collar and presses painfully onto my neck as I stumble back. It's none other than Kakashi, saying, "Let's just get this over with. Stop running away."

"Hey, you let Akemi-nee go, bully! She's shy!"

My body orients itself to face Kakashi to prevent from falling. Without thinking, my eyes are drawn in to the pale skin above the dark mask.

His eyes are dark, far darker than Obito's. They are frosty. Cold. Where Obito's eyes would brighten upon seeing me, his eyes are empty. As if he sees through me entirely.

I have to look down to gaze at him. Yet, I feel so tiny.

His stance is so confident and vigilant. He's filtering everything from his environment and is prepared to attack.

_I'm not even sure what I'd do if I suddenly saw a fly._

Just like that, a massive wall forms in between us... with little hope of tearing it down.

_If I can't stick them together, what if this team will end up in an even worse state?_

"Ah, then, let's let this energetic young ninja go first," Minato interjects from behind me.

The trance ends when Kakashi gives Obito an annoyed look. I stare at the grass and breathe.

"Haha! I'm Obito Uchiha, you know! I like helping Granny and getting nice treats! I dislike rainy days and people who think they're better than others." Insert glare at Kakashi here. "My hobby is training because it's my dream to become the Hokage some day! Be sure to carve out my googles _and_ my Sharingan, you hear? Because those are the eyes that will stare across the village and make our enemies never wanna attack us."

His grin is brilliant. His eyes are shining. It's seems his bravado isn't anything less without Rin. No... I think Kakashi is now his new Rin.

I sigh. _It can't be helped._

"Well," Minato says, smile almost having lost its nervous uncertainty, "I'm glad we share a dream in common."

"Don't humor him, Sensei," Kakashi says, turning Obito's glee into bitterness. "He wants to have a Hokage carving with bugged out eyes and goggles."

Maybe Obito pictures it, because he pales quickly.

(He never was good at making things...)

I turn back around to see Minato's eyes slide to me and I look somewhere else. "Akemi, right? Would you like to go next, to stop being so nervous?"

Kakashi warily holds onto my collar still.

"Um..."

I made a vow... I'll protect Obito. And by protecting him, I need to be stronger. So I can't be shy.

"I'm... Akemi Minakura. I like..."

—_well, I never really thought much about what I like and I'm blanking_—

"...hm, I don't care too much... I'm not picky. I dislike some things..."

—_but they aren't really important enough to say, huh_—

"because that's natural. And my hobbies..."

—training_? Will they believe that—will it make me boring? Sleeping is a given. Studying is really boring, too_—

"I have some, probably? And... my dream..."

For a night, it was to complete a mission just by following Sayaka's and Yazuki's orders.

For some time, it was to enter the Ninja Academy so I wouldn't be a burden anymore.

For three years, it was to graduate to prove to my family I _could do it_.

And now... all I have is a vow.

That really isn't a dream at all. It's more like a nightmare.

"My dream is something," I conclude. "I'll... need some time for a new one..."

I'm expecting some polite words, but all I get is silence. I look to Kakashi first, feeling his hand trembling, just to see him glaring at the ground. Obito stares blankly at me. Minato... watches me with an unreadable expression.

"...wrong words?" I say.

"Wrong introduction." Obito gives me a thumbs down. "The only thing we know about you is your name!"

"What? Ah... oh... I guess you'd think that..."

I forgot I was having a mental debate with myself. Obito just sighs.

"Akemi."

I jerk at Minato's voice.

He's back to smiling, but it doesn't feel the same as before. "Are you satisfied with that introduction? You could say more, if you'd like."

"...it might end up even worse, honestly," I sigh.

"You two," Kakashi hisses under his breath, letting go of me. "You two are dumb and dumber. I can't believe _you're_ my teammates."

_There goes my credibility._

"Watch who you're talking to, Kakashidiot!"

"Why the Academy allowed someone like you to graduate is beyond me!"

"Say it closer, so I can punch ya right here!"

"Obitobi-kun."

Obito focuses on me. This is my first chance to try and see... if I can function as the glue of the team.

"What Kakashi said isn't true," I tell him. "Because... I'm dumb and you're definitely the dumber."

—_well, I just had to._

It's way too tense.

Obito knocks his fist on my head. "Don't say things like that! Is he corrupting you already?! Wait, why am _I _the dumber? _You_ fell asleep on a tree and thought it was your bed!"

As Obito begs me for an answer, Kakashi speaks. "I am Kakashi Hatake and my ambition is to become the best shinobi by following the rules. I don't particularly like anything, and I dislike sweets. My hobby is training."

A chilly breeze blows between Kakashi and Obito and me.

"Kakashi," I mutter, "...is the only person... who can admit that and sound cool."

"True," Obito admits.

Kakashi, who'd been watching me since I called his name, suddenly tenses up.

"You three are all very interesting and diverse people," Minato says, diffusing the tension. "I will be glad to become your Sensei, as long as you pass a simple test."

"_Test_?" Obito and Kakashi echo.

_It's _the _Bell Test_, I think with fear.

To confirm my thoughts, Minato pulls two bells tied by a red string and shakes them, winking. "That's right. You all still have one more test to go, the test that decides if you remain Genin... or return to the Academy..."

It plays out beat by beat up until Minato says, "Let's begin!"

I turn to Obito to tell him about teamwork—

"Akemi-nee, run, you have to win so you can beat Kakashidiot!"

—but he's halfway across the clearing, shooting me a thumbs up.

And Kakashi is nowhere to be seen.

_Wow._

_(Wow.)_

_Why_ did I think that just because I know the future... just because I have some advanced maturity... would anyone benefit from it? If anything, everything is so much _harder_.

I can't be bothered to move.

My chakra won't even listen to me anyways.

I feel like quitting and going back into my dreamland, as if this was another failed civilian-nin mission.

Belatedly, I realize my eyes haven't left Minato's face in a while.

In fact, Minato and I hold eye contact for way too long, the awkwardness growing.

Eventually, he says, "Are you planning on fighting me?"

"Uh," I say intelligently.

I don't know where Obito is. I doubt Kakashi will take me seriously. And do I _really_ want to fight the man who can curbstomp us? _Double nope_.

_Rin should be here... not me..._

I sigh.

"I surrender," I say.

Minato raises only one eyebrow. "Hm?"

"Just... let Kakashi and Obito pass this test," I clarify. "I don't want to do this. I can't... stand... this... I'm ending this right now."

A bit more confident in the words I can't take back, I continue. "Let me go back to the Academy. Because... there are so many people who deserve to be in my shoes... training under a legend and with a prodigy. That's a dream I'd rather let Obito have. And my first friend... Rin Nohara... she deserves this team more than I do. So, I quit, and I'm sorry, but—"

"_What the heck're you doing?_"

Obito bolts out of his hiding spot and runs straight up to me. "You're just giving up like _this_? What about Rin? She believes in us! She would want you happy, you know!"

I shake my head. "If I never showed up... she'd be top kunoichi... and you'd be on the same team. It's not fair—you two are a far better pair. I understand what my limits are, so... I'm not afraid to do this."

Obito's charcoal eyes shine under his goggles. "You _idiot_, Akemi-nee! I'm _dead last_! Rin and you... worked so, so hard and your hard work paid off! No amount of hard work I ever did showed! I'm... I'm the weak one here! If anything, Rin and you should be on this team. _I_ quit!"

"Wh-What...?"

No. This... this isn't like Obito...

"You're going to be Hokage," I urge. "How can _you_ quit...? I don't... have a real dream, Obitobi-kun. So please—"

"You two... are seriously fighting about this?"

We both snap our heads to Kakashi, always with his judging look.

"Rin seems important to you two," he continues, arms folded over his chest. "You and I... we're from different worlds. If this is to work, Rin should be here and not me."

"What..." I hear my voice.

"...the hell?" Obito finishes. I wouldn't say _that_, personally, but the feeling is there.

It's easy to tell Kakashi is surrendering because he probably doesn't want to be on a team with us, but... saying it out loud is different. As proud as he is, we would have never thought he could say such defeated words.

Of course with him, this means we're all trying to quit.

_Why is __**this**__ the first thing we agree upon?_

The bells jingle, its silver ring vibrating through the clearing. Minato is placing the bells into his pocket, smile absent.

"None of you feel fit to be on this team," Minato states quietly. With his eyes downcast like that, I feel like I've gravely disappointed him.

"No, er... that... I guess you shouldn't... listen to those two," I say. "Because... they don't have anything to lose... See, if I fail this, because of the vow I made to my overprotective mother... I'll give up a life of being a ninja for good."

"_What_?" Obito grabs my arm, squeezing painfully hard. "What the heck are you saying?"

"I'm... kinda sick, so... my mom can't stand to see me a kunoichi. If I hand in my protector, there's no way... I'll ever become a ninja. Academy won't be an option. So, if anyone has to suffer... it's me. Don't quit."

Obito starts to tremble, his teeth scrape against one another. "I have something to lose, too! I'll lose Rin! If I don't get stronger... convince her I'm someone worth admiring like Kakashi... she'll be gone forever! I don't want to live in a world without her! She's _my_ first friend, too! She's Kakashi's first friend when _he _started the Academy with us!"

Kakashi is visibly startled... and tries to hide it just as quickly. "...you two and _first friends_. If it really matters, I should quit as a price to my _first friend_. Maybe you two would stop whining..."

The insult is way too halfhearted.

Obito even dismisses it.

In the end, I can't even convince them _not_ to quit.

(I'm such a horrible glue.)

"I understand you three much better than your introductions," Minato interrupts, solemn. "All I can say is that I believe you all just passed this test."

(I'm such an okay glue?)

We are all mutually thrown for a loop.

"Er... but we didn't fight you?" Obito looks at Kakashi and me as if to confirm his sentence.

"We made no attempt to get the bells," Kakashi adds.

"...didn't I... immediately give up?" I continue.

"The point wasn't the bells," the Jounin smiles, exposing two dimples. "The point was the bond between you three. If you're to become a team, you need to act like it. The bells are here to distract you. Those who can see past it truly deserve to be Genin. Although you made no attempt to get the bells nor fight me, you three still worked together. Even if the reason was quitting, that takes strength most Genin do not have.

"So I think that's reason enough to pass you three." And his grin gets brighter. "I'm glad to be your official sensei, now! Team Minato, we'll meet at the red bridge tomorrow for our first mission!"

Needless to say, that day, we're the only team that walks away without any scratches, bruises, or chakra exhaustion.

When I make it home, my family is surprised to see me in such mint condition.

* * *

**small steps extra**

_minato's musings 1_

* * *

The fastest man alive, a moniker I proudly claim as my own, is challenged by his student on the first day.

From my perch in the tree, I see my student sleeping peacefully near the tree roots. Had she camped all night? Nothing about her files reported her being excessively punctual. Could she be motivated to change her ways?

"Am I over thinking this?" I rub my nose.

_Children aren't too complicated. Maybe her mother forced her._

Fifteen minutes before the designated meet up time, Kakashi arrives. He takes one look at the sleeping girl with a weary expression before sitting cross-legged. As the meet up time grows closer, he takes the time to prod her with a foot, then more harshly shaking her, before making threats.

Clearly, she is far beyond a light sleep.

Before Kakashi can burst a vein, I Body Flicker into the clearing and add a cheerful, "Good morning!"

"Ah, Minato-sensei! Good morning." Kakashi delivers a stiff bow, looking a bit too innocent. "Forgive her, Sensei, she refuses to wake up."

"Ah... I see," I say, crouching next to her. I sincerely believe she is not faking her sleep. Her chakra, far smaller than average last place Ninja Academy students, moves indolently. Some of my friends say her chakra is so slothful, it feels the same whether awake or sleeping. _Impressive_, frankly. I had to work hard to fake sleep using chakra.

At any rate, she does not wake up with my help. I pause and search for the last student's chakra, finding him twenty minutes away. If I give her time, perhaps she'll wake up. In the meantime, I chat with Kakashi to remove his hostile scowl.

By the time the third member arrives with an apology and almost unbelievable excuse, I say, "You're here now, and that's all that matters! That said, we just need to wake her up..."

He follows my gaze and immediately frowns up. "_Excuse me_, Sensei, she does this sometimes."

A repeat occurrence? There are no mentions of delinquencies in her report, though...

The Uchiha saunters to her and does all of the same things Kakashi and I did. If we failed, there is no way he will be anymore successful. How am I supposed to wake up a heavy sleeper?

"Hey, let's try doing—"

His shout cuts me off. I start to inhale and repeat myself with a touch more authority instead of my surmounting confusion. Then she begins mumbling: "How did you... find my house...?"

"What? What kind of bed do you have for you to think this is your house?"

I see her moving, mostly her head. Is she actually awake? Did she... wake up even though the same exact things we did... did _nothing_?

_What is this? My first team is a little offbeat..._

He pulls the sleepy girl to her feet where they chat for a bit. Their conversation lulls and she tilts her body to see around the boy. Her big black eyes, dull and somewhat unfocused, land on Kakashi first then me.

She really is awake!

I wave to measure her wakefulness. She does not wave back, so she must still be half asleep. Her eyes glaze over as soon as I stop waving and lower my arm, becoming unresponsive to her classmate's words.

_Please tell me she hasn't fallen asleep again?_

I did in fact hear she can sleep standing up from an old friend who works at the Ninja Academy. Somehow, I expected it to be a bit easier keeping her awake, but—

The girl sprints away to cower behind a tree, her confused classmate easily following behind. Kakashi growls under his breath, becoming impatient with their idiosyncrasies. Meanwhile, I do not understand why she's acting like this at all! It's absurd not being able to get a decent read!

_Did she not intend to sleep this long? If that's so, she probably didn't sleep well the night prior. That must make her frustrated. Perhaps she's worried about a good first impression?_

Intuitively, I feel that makes the most sense. I _could_ be wrong. I have never been to read stoic people as easily as emotional people.

She _does_ return, mostly pulled along with her classmate, not looking upset or nervous. Not even her chakra gives anything away. This really is weird! But very interesting!

"Uh, well." I decide to use the introduction I already prepared to say. "Good morning. Congratulations on becoming Genin of the Hidden Leaf Village."

The three of them are so unique and interesting in their own ways. I'm glad my first team is so spectacular... although I wonder if I can handle them?

Just as Jiraiya-sensei did before, I pull out his old bells and let their silver ring reverberate. I enjoy this so much! A true test in deception, perseverance, and teamwork! I can already see the competitive shine in the boys' eyes. No doubt Obito would be quick to rush in, perhaps using Body Techniques to make up for the lack of his chakra control. Kakashi would come in at a convenient yet clever time, using his prodigal talent to his advantage. And Akemi comes across as passive and reliant on Obito. Perhaps these three will see past the deception and show me true teamwork!

_Because there's no way I can just let such talent go into the Genin Corps. I'm counting on you three!_

As soon as it begins, Obito dashes for a nearby cover, chakra bubbling with excitement of a nature transformation; Kakashi Body Flickers away to an excellent vantage point where it seems he'll be operating with stealth.

Akemi is staring at me.

_Nothing_ indicates any urge or passion to attack me.

Could this be a trick? Was she and Obito plotting behind the tree? That would explain the weirdness! I should have eavesdropped (then again it would not have be much fun knowing).

Is she hiding her intent like her constantly sluggish chakra?

Her absentmineded expression telegraphs no thoughts.

Her stillness starts to make me worried she's fallen asleep with her eyes _open_.

"Are you planning on fighting me?" I say cautiously.

Her brows furrow a minute amount for less than second. "Uh," she says after, looking at the sky.

Ah. There's nothing I could read because she genuinely was prepared for nothing.

Shouldn't I have realized that sooner?

Her sigh startles me. It is a sigh so weary, so suffering that I can picture Shikaku sighing, _not_ a little girl. "I surrender."

_What? Where did...?_

If she's giving up just because she's too lazy or sleepy to fight, I won't dare hesitate to send her to the Genin Corps.

"Hm?"

If I say anything else, she'll definitely realize I am very displeased.

I find I don't need to. She explains her reasoning earnestly, revealing a self-sacrifical side I had no idea about. Obito jumps in to scold her before, too, insisting on surrendering. He talks of a Nohara girl he feels strongly towards. Typically, the Uchiha experience passionate emotions even behind their general stoicism. For him to declare surrender is no easy sacrifice.

Yet Akemi tries to one up Obito, revealing how her ninja career will be over, that the Nohara is somehow a better fit for a team hand-selected by Lord Hokage and Jounin-sensei. Not even realizing that I, personally, chose the dead last and top kunoichi... and reasoned with Chouza as to why he should receive Rin Nohara.

Most damning of all is Kakashi's leap on the surrender train. I know he doesn't have good feelings for his teammates, but I also understand he will not let anyone get in the way of his ambition. With his surrender, I truly believe Kakashi just may feel he doesn't need a team anymore. He has gone through so many, disliking them all. Perhaps he thinks he's cursed.

One thing is for certain.

These three are putting the good of their own hopes and desires and are thinking of others.

That is such a difficult concept for children as young as these three to understand. Just like a toddler finding it difficult to share toys, no average ninja will allow another stranger to interfere with their own dreams and hopes that carried them through a rigorous learning environment.

_That's it. They've done it. They realize..._

"I understand you three much better than your introductions," I interrupt as the silence begins to stretch. Three pairs of eyes lock onto me. _Where is he going with this?_ they seem to say.

Yet, though they are afraid, they do not go back on their word.

"All I can say is that I believe you all just passed this test."

* * *

**small steps chapter 7 **| _team_

* * *

AN: I wrote an extra scene. I felt like the original scene wouldn't be as impactful through Akemi's eyes. Also, let me know if Minato's narrative is too identical to Akemi's because I can't stand how confusing it is to have identical narrators even though the characters are polar opposites. If it's that bad, I'll change it to third person limited no sweat. I'm deadly serious, yo. That has ruined so many books for me.

Anyway, that concludes the Bell Test. The next major plot points are identical to _Naruto_ \- first C-Rank and Chuunin Exams. Before the Exams, there will be four different missions to establish Team Minato with plots no longer than three chapters and are as little as one. I feel it's necessary to not only develop this different team, but to give ample build up in skill before the Exams and inevitably Kannabi.

Beyond the Chuunin Exams is a small time skip, another mission or two, and the Third War. When Exams begins, Kakashi is 11, so there will be two years until Kannabi Mission at 13 (judging on Studio P's character sheets that say Obito's 13 at death.) Whatever happens then, I will update on future plans.


	8. -01:01

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**waking akemi-chan:** _koi_

**akemi**: 6 years, 2 months

**location**: _maple village (summer)_

* * *

"Mooooorning—for the fifteenth time!"

The annoyed shout is followed with a swift hit in the rear. It ignites my urge to pee really badly, so I very reluctantly rise. Upon doing so, I somehow disentangled myself from my seven pillows and blanket. As I'm in a _futon_ mattress, I roll off the uncomfortable thing and to the floor effortlessly.

Some vicious monster has my two, huge windows open, blinding me with the Sun's unrelenting fury.

"An-chan, don't be so dramatic."

A familiar face pops into view—my mom is staring down at me.

"Get up. Today, we won't have a lesson."

I _want_ to be happy. However, I can hear the _but_ in her sentence. I groan.

"Satoshi needs our help today!" my mom adds happily. "You know... your cousin? He would really appreciate it, An-chan. He's on a mission."

I groan louder. I can definitely fall asleep like this. My mom is fighting a losing battle.

However.

My stomach growls. I still need to use the bathroom. While I don't doubt I can fall asleep on the toilet, I'd prefer to not make my mom upset again.

"An-chan, if you're not up in an hour, _no_ rice congee for a month," and she leaves my room just like that. No room to argue.

It's probably noon... yeah, I must be sleeping the day away.

_Didn't I fall asleep at nine last night, though?_

Rubbing my eyes, I clumsily refold the blanket and prop the fluffy pillows on the mattress. I pull the heavy brick into its side of the closet and shut the door. Along the way, I eye my windows and soon slide the blue curtains over the light.

Now my room is dimly lit. Excellent.

My room isn't anything exceptional—it's the smallest room in the house _and_ the quickest room to run to starting at my parent's room. There isn't much of a mess to clean up nor is there any place in particular to collect a mess. When my mattress is put away, pale yellow walls and a _tatami_ mat greet me. In the center of the room is a small table low to the floor, covered by a quilt Gramma knifted using my old shirts I got for birthdays but never wore and outgrew. The sitting cushions must be under the table because the top is covered with my homeschool books and homework preparing me for an average, official education.

My mom had me moving through the lessons quickly all because of the fact I processed them quickly. Well, mostly, not counting the language barrier. Because, for some reason, I know a language no one here speaks.

Well... supposedly... I might be reincarnated.

But that sounds really stupid.

I mean, I was sleeping for a long time. Years, even. I could have made that stuff up. After all, the things I know haven't even happened.

(Yet the things from the past are all true...)

At any rate, it's rather awkward having a mind who thinks it's an adult and having a body that operates like a toddler. I'm supposed to be six.

_Well. Can't be helped._

I open the second half of the closet for my clothes. I never really go outside or do much of anything. My wardrobe is extremely limited because of it. Is it bad to admit I have more underwear than all my shirts, pants, and shoes combined?

My room is kinda hot, so I think it's hot outside. I pull on a sleeveless top and hand-me-down shorts that are too baggy even though they don't pass my knees. So I find an old ribbon and use that as my belt.

I shut door slowly, seeing my cozy and still warm PJ shirt hanging up.

_I'll see you soon, I promise._

I evaluate my room one more time. If I clean up those books, I'll probably forget to do my homework. And my room is _hot_. I pull open the closest in dig into my trunk, pulling out the fan lying on top of countless knick knacks given to me over the years, each object still flawlessly intact. It's nice to look at them but I don't have much of an urge to interact with them.

I plug in the fan. Even on high, it doesn't do much. Still, it's better than before.

Content, I move to the bathroom the twins and I share. I _never_ wait for the bathroom.

(Probably because everyone has already started their day.)

I do the bare minimum and ignore my messy hair. It's not as if I'm going anywhere major.

Finally I come downstairs to see my mom sweeping the kitchen floor. She smiles at me. "You look cute today! But your hair is so messy, An-chan."

"Breakfast," I say, as I don't really know what other words to say.

"It's pretty cold, but it's in the kitchen. You didn't take that long today."

It's because I slept early.

I take my plate full of everything I would've grabbed had we eaten together. I carry it straight pass the dining room to the stairs, where I proceed to eat and look out the window.

Maple Village is small. I mostly see our front yard covered in beautiful flowers Gramma planted and maple trees. An odd person or two walk down the sidewalk. They all look at our home with delighted faces.

"An-chan, don't fall asleep while eating!"

My mom's shout jolts me into wakefulness.

After I watch my mom clean the plate, she goes into her room and puts a hat on my head. "Today, you'll be in the backyard! It'll be fun!"

I adjust the floppy hat. "Huh."

My mom guides me out the door before a trace of sunlight could graze her snowy skin. I see the door close behind me. Her figure soon reappears in the window, smiling and cheering me on.

_Huh._

"My little panda, come here!"

My grandmother, apparently very highly esteemed in my family, beckons me to her side. I obey. As I get closer, I see a huge hole in the ground. It's probably as deep as I am tall.

"You'll help your precious grandmother, hmm? She only needs you for a little while." Her face is shiny with sweat. The hat protects most of her skin, but her long gloves and dress block the rest of the sun touching her.

I watch her thoughtfully. The sun stings my arms and legs. I wouldn't dare wear something like this woman, though.

"Good. Now then... I need you to stand inside the hole. Ready?"

She raises and lowers me into the hole. I start to realize this hole isn't covered in dirt but something really tough. Well, looky here, three Akemi could fit into the hole from head to toe, going end to end. But I'm slightly taller than the hole. I can see my grandmother's toes she keeps covered.

My grandmother hands me a bag of multicolor pebbles I spread on the ground, then super soft sand, then little plants she pulls out a tiny tank—roots and everything. They take the most work and leave my back aching.

(I wanna sleep.)

I have to add oddly shaped seashells and small, harmless debris. Finally, this woman plucks me out the hole. On its side, she attaches a piece of bamboo paper with a black, calligraphic ideogram. I point to it.

"That's the Kanji for refreshing. Can you say that?"

I stare at the paper trying to recall her words. Then I attempt it.

And she laughs softly. "Very close. Let's say it slowly. _Refreshing_."

"Refreshing," I say, overemphasizing the four syllables.

"Very good! Can you say it again? Faster?"

"Refreshing." I kind of picture the ideogram for spring and imagine wind. And I keep mumbling that occasionally, trying to picture _refreshing_. Then I have to add so many stones all around the hole before my grandmother reveals another bamboo paper. This time, with a _poof_, water spills from it. It takes on a odd smell.

So I point to it and say, "Refreshing, water."

"_Refreshing water_," she amends, because all I did was slap two concepts together. That's not how this language works.

(Would've made sense in my language...)

"Refreshing water," I amend.

"Yes, the water has been filtered for our new friends," she continues gleefully.

New friends? Isn't this swimming pool a bit small? What's with the aquatic theme?

"Akemi's friends," I ask.

"Well, yes, my little red panda. But they're also everyone's friends. Can you name your family?"

Twice a week I always have to do this. So, sighing, I say, "Mother, father, cousin, cousin, aunt, grandmother."

I stick with the alternative naming scheme to address my family—the very objective and distant one. It's the first version I'd learn and is used a lot in reality.

But.

My grandmother is disappointed.

Her dark eyes seem to bore into my soul as she says, "That's very good, but you can't always call your mother or me that. Say _Mom_. And your cousins have names. Did you forget them again?"

Of course I forgot them.

I'm used to names like Adam or John or Mary...

"_Sayaka_ is your cousin. The cute girl? _Satoshi_ is her brother, the one who we're helping today."

I hunch my shoulders up. I'm going to always forget. I don't understand Japanese names and it's not like a year here is going to make me forget eighteen years _there_.

"We'll try again later, hm?"

I sigh.

The water is filled up. Once I see the fish food and a temperature gauge enter the water, I realize this is a pond. Why _I_ of all people was required to help I have no idea.

But our work is done for now. We enjoy a cool lunch my mom made and I nap for a bit before I'm woken up.

The hair that tickles my nose is long and black.

My dad.

I peek over his shoulder to see his happily curved eyes and mouth. He steps outside and it's dusk. It's kinda hot but kinda chilly. He stops next to everyone.

My mom.

My aunt.

My grandmother.

My two cousins.

The boy twin is crouched over the pond, hands grasping something. His cheeks are colored, probably due to his uncontrollable smile.

His sister is also pretty happy, as she rocks on her feet.

"Three... two... one!"

The boy opens the top and waits. There's a lot of commotion. I don't get it. I struggle on my dad's back and he lets me down. Free, I look, too.

I don't see anything.

But the pond's dim lights turn on and I see beautiful fish swimming. Seven fish with seven different patterns.

"Akemi..."

I look up to see the girl twin grinning at me, bent to my height. She points to a fish, but I don't know which one. "That one with the red and white. It blends at a certain point and almost looks pink. Bro and I agreed that will be named _Mom_."

_Mom_, being the word my mom always urges me to say. Which I think is a little annoying, having to learn two separate names.

"That all black fish is _Dad_. You see that pale fish that keeps darting around like crazy? That's named Mommy—er, that's _Auntie_! And, um, there's a slow orange fish over there. Let's let that one be _Grandmother_! Then there's two fish that love playing with one another. The white one who's really friendly is _Sayaka_. The bigger fish she messes with is _Satoshi_. And the baby fish is _Akemi_. If you forget, I made a booklet!"

She hands me a small scroll. It's ordered from oldest to young. With every name comes a highly detailed drawing of the fish. It's unmistakable.

"Aaaa-keeee-miiii," my cousin singsongs, "it's been a year since you woke up, you know! You've never really asked for anything, or did anything, so it felt weird never doing anything for you. Bro and I figured we'd give you a small gift! You can see the koi pond from your room, from both windows—I checked! You don't have to be responsible for the fishies, but do visit them every so often, okay, Akemi? They love you as much as we do!"

_So strange._

I never hear those words any more. _I love you_. Granted, the girl twin only used the like adjective, so it's not the same thing, but I never hear _likes_ and _loves_. It's all about doing. My mom cooks good dinner, so that means she loves me. My aunt always returns with money or toys for me, so that means she loves me.

I really don't like that.

I miss when my old family (_fake or not_) would tell me _I love you_ every night before I went to sleep. I miss free hugs without a trace of awkwardness. I miss my casual relationship with my family members, instead of all this formality and the expectation that I do good to provide for my family when they're older.

I guess... I just want out of this cage.

I don't want a tiny and pathetic body. I want my familiar body back.

What's the point in these dumb memories of this world? It's not going to matter.

"No matter how sick you get," the girl twin continues, "it won't matter. Even if you fall back asleep, it won't matter. I'll always love my little cousin."

(Huh... my heart...)

And here she is, breaking the box my family has constructed, looking through the cracks in the wall. She loves me. I can see the warmth in her eyes and face. I _want_ her to say it again _but I can't speak her language properly_.

So I blurt, "Refreshing."

She giggles. "Oh, did Akemi learn a new word today? That's a good word! _Refreshing_! How about..."

Well that worked.

As she keeps blabbering on, I'm thinking hard. But there's no word that comes to me. Hearing is way different than speaking. But I want those words again. I want them.

(She won't listen to me unless I speak her language.)

There's only one word that comes to me, one word I know she'll understand. And then... maybe... she'll repeat those words again.

I practice the word inside my head three times before carefully saying, "Sayaka..."

"—but don't ever feed the fish at night!"

She pauses.

No, freezes is more like it.

_She's understanding me._

I repeat two syllables I've already heard. It may not be correct, but if some meaning gets across, I'm happy.

"Sayaka," I repeat. "Like."

My heart beats fast.

It's just like old times.

Just like—

"Wh-_What_? What did you...?" She stares at me, eyes comically huge, as she slaps her palms on her cheeks. "Akemi? Did you... did you say _my_ name? You didn't forget me? Y-Y-You..."

I wanted those words back.

What I get is a sobbing girl.

Sadness? Anger? Happiness? I have no clue.

_It's kinda your fault._

(What am I supposed to do to fix it?)

"Sayaka..." I offer. "Like?"

She watches me, tears falling from her eyes like rain.

"You like me?"

The way she morphs my horrible sentences into something beautiful... I want that ability.

"You really do?" she says. "I thought... I always thought you didn't even know who Satoshi and I were. As soon as we were gone, nothing about us would stay. Mommy is like that... your dad... Grandmother... your mom sometimes. Do you know who I am, Akemi?"

This wasn't my goal at all. But. Now I feel really awful. The coldness seizes my stomach. I want to run away.

"Sayaka," I say.

She sniffles. "A-And my brother? Do you remember him, Akemi?"

_No_, not really.

"Toshi," I offer.

She claps her hands. "Very good! Yes, yes! And the fish! Do you remember? Which one is me—er, Sayaka?"

I think for few seconds, then I see a fish messing with another, bigger fish. I point to the former.

"That's Sayaka! That's it! Don't you forget, you hear me, Akemi? Please don't! I love you! I don't like being forgotten... I hate it so much..."

Oh, it worked.

Those words...

I'd be able to hear more if I... accepted these people?

Maybe I never heard those words because they felt like I'd just forget. Forget them all.

Maybe it hurt them to say _I love you_ if I was just going to forget them later.

(Am I supposed to let go of my old world?)

(_Should I be more scared? There's no point in dreaming for something gone forever._)

_I want them to tell me _I love you.

But.

I won't ever hear that unless I give them a reason to.

So I practice the words the girl twin said. My ears are on fire as I say, "I love you."

The girl twin... _Sayaka_ had just stopped crying before she resumes.

She throws her arms around me, crushing me in her embrace, as she sobs over my shoulder. I can't see anything while pressed against her chest. I do feel her drumming heart and warmth and _oh how I miss hugs_.

It's dark outside when we all eat dinner together, as we do every other month or so. I'm sitting in between the twins this time, though, instead of in my mom's lap or my dad's lap.

Sayaka just keeps talking, even approaching words I don't know. I look up her brother... _Toshi_, I guess, for help, but he's too enchanted by his sister to pay attention. I decide to stand up, startling _Sayaka_ and sit on top her pretty skirt, her petticoat, and her dark colored leggings. The distinction from my pale skin and he clothed legs are enough to make my eyes hurt from the brightness. As I take her spoon and shovel bits of meat, vegetables, and broth to my mouth—she was too busy talking to eat—_Sayaka_ wraps her arms around my stomach. The food falls out the spoon as she hugs me tightly, squealing.

"Sayaka," I say, _instantly_ drawing her attention. "No. Stop. Dinner."

I learned those phrases because I had heard them countless of times already.

_Sayaka_ stares dumdfoundedly at me.

Meanwhile, _Toshi_ is laughing, "I think Akemi is mad at you! You better stop, Sayaka, she wants dinner!"

I turn back to shovel more soup in my mouth when a bigger hand takes my spoon away.

"Akemi needs to be more polite, then! Say pretty please for me for me, Akemi! Or else I'll feed you myself!"

_Oh my God._

I just want food.

Ignoring her, I snatch bowl and tips its contents into my mouth. Unfortunately, I move too slowly, as gravity suddenly drops all of the soup's contents on my face, in her lap, and on the floor.

I think _everyone_ is saying _Akemi, no! Stop!_ tonight.

_Sayaka_ decides to bath with me under the watchful eye of my mom. I'm a little annoyed as it's her first time offering this. It's breaking my cycle. I always let my mom do the work so I can sleep. _Sayaka_ keeps me awake by playing with toys and making up dumb myths and legends.

"...so don't ever feed the water spirits," she says, eyes mischievous. After an expectant second, she adds, "Not even the tiniest bit scared?"

"I think An-chan knows it's fake," says my mom. "Sometimes, she so quick to understand these things. Not even you or Satoshi could think like her until you were older."

"Is that so?" _Sayaka_ regards me curiously. "I wonder what she thinks, Aunnie. Her expression never changes. Does Akemi feel anything?"

Why are they talking about me like I don't exist?

Or... I guess I shouldn't be able to understand their words.

"She most certainly does! Oh, she'll never smile or frown up, but she _feels emotions_, Sayaka," my mom says. "I'm always, always with her everyday. I watch her when she's not paying attention. I teach her daily. Akemi may not reveal much, but she feels everything. Like at dinner, she was very frustrated, not mad. You kept stopping her from eating. And, at the pond, she loved that hug... she really did..."

My mom's passion dwindles down to a whisper. I don't know why, but it pulls at my heart something terrible. I don't want to bathe any more.

_Sayaka_ blinks and pats my mom's shoulder, saying, "Umm... shall we get out the water?"

My mom isn't completely present as she dries us off and helps me into my PJ shirt. As _Sayaka_ goes to her brother to talk, my mom carries me to my room, now eerily dark. I help her take out the mattress, set up the blankets and pillows, and lie down. My mom tucks me in and smiles.

"Goodnight, Akemi. Sweet dreams," she says.

"Goodnight..."

Smiling a little less, she doesn't rise but says, "I... you... I love you."

Oh.

_Oh._

I get all giddy and I start to repeat it _but_ I know _my mother_ isn't the name she likes me to say.

It feels odd to repeat _Sayaka_'s words. I don't know know how else to communicate.

"Mom... I love you."

My mom... well... _Mom_ starts to tremble and shake and I'm worried I've broken the delicate woman. Then she covers her face and sobs. I mean, loudly, too. I've only ever seen her bawl like this one time before: when I first woke up.

"Hanae, what _happened_? Is Akemi okay?"

"Aunnie, what's wrong?"

"Why is my Hanae crying...?"

Everyone enters my room without permission. I just kind of lie in my bed, still, as they all go comfort _Mom_. Somebody ruffles my messy hair.

_Mom_ tries to put herself together. "H-Hey... I'm sorry I'm being obnoxious..."

My aunt pats her back. "It's okay, it's okay. Why were you crying? Did you get really sad again?"

Again?

"U-Ummm," _Mom_ sniffles, "Akemi called me _Mom_..."

"Wait, _she_ did?" my aunt sputters.

"Oh, Akemi," says _Sayaka_. "That koi pond was such a great idea, Satoshi! She's really starting to remember us clearly!"

Her twin nods. "I know! She'll remember all of us before long!"

"Yay," my dad says happily. "_Mom_ is Akemi's first word. I thought it would have been _Dad_, but this makes me really happy."

"But—but, I gotta hit her," my aunt says—

_What?_

"No! Just change that vow of yours! Don't hit my baby girl!"

"She made you cry! I can't let that go!"

"Hisano!"

"Hanae!"

My aunt's fist grows closer and closer to my face. As much as my mom pulls, she's not strong enough to stop her.

I shut my eyes as her knuckles near my forehead.

My aunt strikes.

It hurts, yeah, but not a lot and not for long. It shouldn't even bruise.

I open my eyes to see my aunt exhausted.

"That'll show ya," she murmurs.

"That wasn't bad at all," _Mom_ points out.

"I feel weird hitting a sick, weak kid," she shrugs.

"Is _that_ the only thing that concerns you?"

I'm really, really tired. Today has been absolutely terrible.

"Akemi," I say, grabbing their attentions. "Goodnight."

And with that, I sleep.

* * *

**small steps chapter -1 **| _koi_

* * *

AN: Here is a flashback chapter while the next chapter is being written. I can't estimate how long it'll take, but I can at least publish something I've finished. Perhaps I'll delete it later.

Akemi's first year is a struggle. She's not happy, she's moody and she isolates herself and denies herself of attachments. She doesn't take the effort to learn about her family. She only uses them for knowledge so that she can catch up. However, Akemi hasn't been getting proper emotional and mental attention and its not like she can communicate that.

Sayaka helps Akemi understand that there's no point in sulking, because she can still derive the very same happiness she remembers from this new world. So she communicates the only way how, and Sayaka doesn't know how to take rhe sudden revelation.

After this point, Sayaka adores Akemi. For she was the first person who's name was called and the first person to receive an _I love you_. The second is her mother. (If you're curious, she tells her father and grandmother next with Hisano and Satoshi being the last duo.)

If you're really curious, here are some translations:

Akemi says: _suzuyaka_; _suzuyaka mizu_;_ haha _(mother), _chichi _(father), _soba _(grandmother), etc; _sayaka_; _sayaka suki_; _sayaka. dame. tomare. bangohan_; _kaa-san_

Grandmother says: _suzuyakana mizu yone_

Sayaka says: _atashi no koto... ga suki?_; _akemi no koto ga suki_

Hanae says: _akemi... ga suki wa_.

Oh, and, most importantly, Akemi says: _sayaka no koto... suki._ and _kaa-san no koto... suki_.

To those who enjoyed the moon mission, what about do you like? I'll try to recreate it more. Is it the mystery, the absurdity/dreamlike appeal, strategy elements? Thanks!

***Nameless** Thank you for your ideas and tips! I have my suspicions of his past. I definitely feel like he's an orphan as his family is never mentioned no indirectly referenced. I feel like he just might be poor.


	9. 02:08

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**genin akemi-chan:** _d-rank_

**years til nine tails:** 6_ years, 7 months_

**akemi:** 11_ years, 11 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

Although I can't be too certain, I'm sure the overall threat of Team Minato has gone down compared to canon.

It's not because of Kakashi or Minato. It's definitely the fault of a dead last and a sleepy ninja working in tandem.

Team Minato's first D-Rank begins simply enough: asking our relatively young Hokage for a mission.

"There's some strange phenomenon scaring the villagers at the old library," he begins, normal enough. "Investigate it at night and, hopefully, eliminate the source."

It's Minato who elaborates (at Obito's pleading).

"A minuet plays at midnight every night. A midnight minuet, if you will." Minato pauses, looks at us expectantly. Clears his throat. "Ah, well, whenever villagers investigate it, they find nothing."

"Sounds like this's gonna be boring," Obito huffs. "What're we supposed to do until midnight, Sensei?"

I add, "And... what's a minuet?"

"A minuet is music made for dancing," Minato says, smiling. "Usually during ceremonies or coronations. As for what we'll be doing, we'll search the library for any clues."

The old library is old in more ways than one. It's situated pretty far from the heart of the Leaf Village. It's spacious and large, almost appearing like a chapel rather than a place of learning. From where we are, deep in the forest, it's hard to see or hear much of anything resembling village life.

Minato cracks open the moss-covered door, surveys what's inside, and opens it all the way for us. I stay near Minato's side while the boys walk into the atrium, eyes taking in everything.

"Wow," Obito beathes, whistling even.

With the amount of plants growing on the floor, walls, and shelves, it would seem the place had been abandoned for a millennium. Sunlight pours through windows and holes on the roof that had collapsed long ago. The few books remaining have faded and dried from enduring harsh elements over the years.

"So this is the old library," Minato says under his breath. But it echoes easily, earning him three curious stares. "This used to be a civilian library apart from the ninja library. But with the Ninja Academy including both clan children and normal children to learn together, it was easier going to the Leaf Library. I thought they'd demolish it, but here it stands. A reminder of the past... "

"I don't get why there's music coming from here, though," Obito says, adjusting his goggles over his eyes.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Kakashi states in a bland, know-it-all voice.

Obito immediately grinds his teeth together and points at the shorter boy. "I know! I'm not dumb! I just don't get how anyone can stand being in this creepy, old place!"

"This place is more than enough for some ninja," Kakashi says cooly. "Don't let your guard down. "

"Kakashi is right," Minato interjects. "That said, nobody knows much of anything. Maybe it's just an old music box? It's our job to find out."

Minato steps forward, pulling along me, who'd been clutching his pants leg.

The library is almost as big as my house. There's only four smaller rooms and a bathroom that's more an arbortorium than a place to use it.

Minato pauses at a bookshelf least affected by nature and plucks out a book. I scan what I can see, finding a red and gold book. The cover feels like cinderblocks. Most of the pages are stuck together and stained yellow. The few pages I can see are smeared by indecipherable ink.

The dust tickles my nose. No matter how much I rub at it, it doesn't go away.

I breathe in deep.

And sneeze.

I'd also dropped the book to cover my nose where it nearly pulverizes a toe, judging how hard it hits the ground.

Minato snickers.

(Look who's laughing...)

I narrow my eyes at him.

Minato waves a palm in a placating gesture. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? Your sneeze wasn't funny, it just reminded me of someone else!"

"Who?"

He's smiling to himself, that smile that hurts the cheeks but won't go away. "Let's focus on our first mission for now. I know we'll do great!"

(Yeah, sure.)

I am forced to leave it alone. For now.

We don't make much more progress, so we leave for a bit. And by "leave", Minato has us gather in a clearing ten minutes away, saying, "We'll do a stakeout."

"A what?" Obito blurts.

Kakashi scowls.

"We'll take turns watching the library. Have you two ever done one before?" Minato doesn't spare Kakashi a glance.

"For the Academy," Obito says. "I, uh, wasn't as good as Rin."

I nod in agreement. I'd done some in civilian-nin missions, but I was rarely ever _good_.

"Okay. You two will work together. Let's do three hour shifts. I'll go first. Kakashi will go second. Then Obito and Akemi. Then, we all meet up at midnight."

"I see!" Obito grins hard. "You're putting us on the last shift 'cause you think we can handle it if anything goes wrong!"

Minato is hesitating, pulling at his collar as if to say _Not really..._

"Sensei obviously wants him and me to be well-rested," Kakashi states. "You're last because you'll be too tired to do anything when we show up."

"Shuddup, Kakashidiot! Sensei! Is that true?"

Minato meets Obito's big, shining eyes, and forces a smile. "Well... I wouldn't put it that way, but... it's best if Kakashi and I handle any threats."

Obito pales.

"_Ehhhhhh_? Minato-sensei! I'm going to be Hokage one day! I need to get stronger! How dare you say I'm useless? I'm not useless at all!"

Obito fusses for a little while longer until we have to leave. He stomps as he walks and, though I'd planned to go home and tell Mom what's going on, I figure I should cheer him up.

So, obviously, we go to Rin's house.

She answers the door fairly quickly with a sweet smile and clasps her hands over her heart, but... it doesn't seem as energetic as normal.

Soon we're in her room, eating boiled eggs, talking.

"My team is very unique," Rin says, hesitating. "But our skills kinda go together in a cool way! Guy uses a lot of Body Techniques and knows nunchuks, sorta. And Genma is really gifted with senbon needles and taijutsu, so he's the best of both worlds. Chouza-sensei said he'll teach me long-ranged support to help."

"Sounds like your team is really strong," Obito says, looking eager to please.

"Yeah! I think we're frontline assault. Apparently, Anko's team is stealth and investigation. Kurenai said her team is completely long-range."

"What's our team?" Obito leans over the table, focused on Rin.

I hug my legs folded against my chest, and nudge Rin slightly. I'm still not okay with stupid choices I made... and maybe Rin will never forgive me.

But rather than pull away, Rin just gives me a soft smile. I don't know how she does it. I don't get how one person could be this caring.

"Er, well. Your team doesn't make sense? I mean," adds Rin quickly, "Kakashi is so good with tracking and short-range fighting. Obito is good at long-range. Akemi... it depends on what weapon she chooses. Even Minato Namikaze confuses me..."

"Betcha the team woulda made more sense if Rin were there," Obito says, pouting.

"You're not wrong," Rin says, earning a grin from Obito. "Obito would have Fire Release, and I'd learn long-range techniques, too. We'd be another long range team. But... Minato Namikaze isn't a long-range Jounin. He's short. So... maybe that's why I..."

Her voice has a hint of melancholy to it.

(Please don't be sad, Rin.)

"Maybe we're... just the unpredictable team," I say, earning two smiles. "We're, like... lab rats."

"_True_. But that may not be such a good thing..." Rin looks at me under her eyelashes, smirking.

Obito, though, brightens at the idea. "I dunno! The bad guys won't know what hit 'em!"

I nod. "To be fair... neither will we."

We kill more time talking and trying to boil tea. After a quick nap, it's time for us to head out.

We make it to the clearing just before the old library to find Kakashi glaring at us, hands on his hips. "You're an hour late!"

I wince.

Obito, though, rolls his eyes and tugs me along. "We showed up, didn't we? Even though you said we're _useless_?"

"We're sorry," I say, pulling against Obito to face Kakashi.

But Kakashi barely focuses on me before he's scowling at Obito. "You had one responsibility, dead last! This is why no one believes in you."

Obito freezes before spinning on his heel and jerking his hand hard. I flinch and hear a noise in Kakashi's direction.

In Kakashi's hand is Obito's goggles.

"I'll show you I'm not useless," Obito hisses.

"_Before _I die, right?" Kakashi snorts and drops the goggles. Soon after, he disappears.

I jog over to retrieve them. The lens on the right side is cracked.

"That," I say, "wasn't nice..."

"Yeah, well, he's not a nice guy. Come on. "

I follow... for a moment. "Um. You... missed the tree."

Aren't we supposed to be hiding in a tree to watch the library? It seems like Obito is dead set for the library entrance.

"We're not doing that. We're gonna bet this guy inside the library."

_Before_ Minato and Kakashi can get here? "Ah... we probably shouldn't."

"Uh-huh! What did you say earlier? We're unpredictable!"

Obito faces me. His big eyes are shining again, but differently. They shine because of unshed tears. Obito is puffing his cheeks out as if to cause pain. To distract himself.

"They're not gonna know what hit them," he says, as if promising the both of us. "'Cause... we're not useless."

(I need to talk him out of this.)

"But..."

(This is stupid. Suicidal.)

"Akemi-nee, please. We're the same, you know. Nobody believed in us."

(We can't.)

"Obitobi-kun," I say. Sigh. "We need to set traps."

Our teacher is the Fourth Hokage. As long as we're not near any bridges, I'm sure we'll be fine.

Besides...

I wanna believe him.

Obito closes the door behind me, squinting into the dimness. "So. Traps?"

"These books are..." I grab one off the dusty counter and try to pry it open. "They pack a punch."

"Hm... c'mere, Akemi-nee!"

Five minutes later, Obito stands on my shoulders to place a few books on the slightly cracked door. When it opens, the books will probably knock our bad guy out.

Obito admires his handiwork while I roll my shoulders. "I feel like we need lots more, Akemi-nee."

I nod.

(What to do...?)

I unseal a sword and stab the floor, startling my friend. The floor peels off.

"Traps," I explain.

We cover the small holes with shuriken hidden among greenery collected out the bathroom.

But, well, it looks really obvious.

"Maybe if we could lead them to another trap," I think out loud, leaning on a bookshelf to gather my breath.

"Akemi-nee! Do you have ninja wire?"

"Do I?"

Ninja wire is the dental floss of the ninja world.

Obito and I wrap a few bookshelves in it. We extend our reach to books and furniture.

We spend the next hour or so sprucing up the place before we hear a gentle humming.

I push Obito to duck in one of the darkest corners while I go on the opposite side.

From the small split in the door, a shadow seeps into the room. Growing. The humming is louder. The front door creaks.

"_Aghh_!"

Cinderblock books pelt the cloaked figure.

Obito pulls on a strand of wire to tip over the bookshelf already sinking into the floor. The person dodges with a jump.

Though they land on shruriken.

They stagger and hop from foot to foot while I yank on my wire. Small furniture hurl themselves near or at the figure, including an old candle holder we filled with dust.

They cough and sneeze and fling shuriken plucked from the obvious traps—which, yeah, probably a bad idea—easy for me to deflect.

Though as soon as they run out, Obito leaps out his hiding spot, kunai in his hands, and shouts.

The person stares at him and throws a broken chair leg.

Obito doesn't seem like he can dodge. I seize a kunai out my rear pouch and fling it, adding chakra.

Hold on.

Was that kunai orange?

Obito immediately darts to me while the person stumbles away—

After a large _boom,_ hot and fiery orange and black appear.

"We're using _explosives_?" Obito shouts.

I hunch up my shoulders. I grabbed the wrong one.

(Shouldn't keep them all together, huh?)

The person escapes from harm just fine. It's the plants and wood that catch on fire, with thick smoke feeling weighted as I breathe in.

More cracking noises—not the crack of a fire, but of a roof collapsing.

Giant chunks fall towards us almost in slow motion. Sharp, jagged points rise from the growing smoke. Painted by oranges. Almost surreal.

The pieces seem small at first. Until it completely blocks the Moon exposed by the gaping holes.

No.

We're _not_ dying.

We're not.

"Go," I cough, dragging a stunned Obito towards the person. I just noticed how much blood poured from their feet.

Not important. Go.

It's Obito who takes their hand. And, behind us, a huge _crack_ so loud it makes my ears ring.

Yup, there it is, falling on one end and falling over to crush us.

We run.

We don't stop until I trip on the grass, sending us all sprawling.

Behind us, the old library goes up into flames.

"That sucks." I cough.

"You mixed fire with a _library_," shouts the breathless person. "Were you expecting _anything_ different?"

"Wasn't... trying to," I mumble, rolling over to my back.

"You've got no room for talking! We're taking you in, bad guy!" Obito clutches their wrists. At first, he overpowers them, until they kick his shin. "Ah! Akemi-nee!"

Sitting up, I pull rope out a scroll and use an E-Rank Rope Technique to tie our culprit up. With their arms pinned, Obito throws back the cloak to reveal...

A baby-faced ginger with a scowl that should be scary were it not for such long eyelashes and big eyes.

"You're a girl?" Obito says, eyes comically huge.

Taking advantage of Obito's confusion, the culprit bites his thumb. Their vice-like takes a few violent shakes to remove. But Obito is freed and clutching his hand to his chest. "She assaulted me!"

"You assaulted me first! You got me stabbed! You burned down my library! I did nothing but play music!"

Oh. A confession.

"You scared dozens of people," Obito shouts back which... doesn't really hold up.

"Boy, that isn't the same as burning down a _library_—"

"Accident," I say, but they're not listening.

"My teacher is the most powerful ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village, and you're going to regret being a bad guy," Obito says. "So whine all ya want."

"If your teacher's really _that_ powerful"—the culprit makes a face—"why'd he let _you_ two capture me? Sounds like a crappy person, honestly."

Obito practically screeches, "The only bad person here is you, ya mean, dumb girl! Who even are you anyway?"

"Like I'd tell a stupid ninja with slugs for brains my name!"

"_Slugs for brains_? Listen here, _tadpole_—"

"Obito, Akemi—just _what_ is going on here?"

Obito and I flinch and look to see Minato and Kakashi running up to meet us. Obito points at the culprit and says, "Got the bad guy all by ourselves!"

"You weren't supposed to do that," Kakashi scolds.

"Nobody stopped me," Obito retorts, sticking his tongue out.

"Obito," Minato says, voice more surprised and disappointed more than angry. "You were supposed to listen to _my _orders."

"But, Sensei—"

"No. If there is a war, I need to trust that you'll do what I say. I want you to be safe just as much as I want fo complete our mission." Minato kneels to be eye level with Obito. He only spares me a glance, but it's enough for me to remember his hurt face.

(That doesn't feel nice.)

"Minato-sensei," Obito pleads, "you didn't think we could do it. But we did. So you hafta trust us, too."

"Obito... you two burnt down a library. What if you died in there? What if I didn't sense Akemi use too much chakra? I would have never thought to return until our designated time."

"Um." I hold up a finger. For once, everyone looks at me. I cringe a little. "That... was an accident. I, er... switched up the kunai."

Kakashi just groans, clutching his head as if a migraine just formed. "How do you mix up kunai and _explosive_ kunai? Even though your specialty is _weapons_?"

I was panicking.

"Akemi," Minato says (I avoid his gaze entirely). "You're just as guilty as Obito for going against my orders and _especially_ almost killing the three of you."

I wince.

"It's not her fault," Obito sighs. "I convinced her. She wanted to follow the rules and—Kakashi and I argued. I just couldn't take it, so I captured the bad guy with Akemi-nee. I mean, she saved us. I... was too afraid to move and... we injured her feet." He points to our culprit who'd been watching with an interesting expression.

Minato looks at him, then me, then sighs. "I'm glad you're safe. But this mission isn't over yet."

He glances at Kakashi who cuts the ropes off our culprit. "Alright. Who are even you?"

"Nichibu. I didn't mean any harm, I just like dancing. My dad got me a music box, and I come here to practice dancing where no one can see me," Nichibu says, both palms in the air. "That's all. Nobody's gonna take me seriously if they see I like such a girly thing. I mean, I kick bully's butts and don't take crap from nothing. Nobody needs to know I dance."

So... in the end, we nearly hurt a plain, old civilian.

(In the end, we didn't really prove anything.)

Minato takes her to the hospital and offers to pay her bills (which she says yes to, like a smart person) and we all agree to keep this a secret. At least, we won't say anything. However, we write _everything_ down while Kakashi watches us.

"You're dismissed," Kakashi says coldly, snatching our reports and Body Flickering away.

Obito and I trade a look. He sighs. Dawn is nearly an hour away.

"...our plan didn't work out," I say.

"Maybe we're actually useless," Obito says. "Maybe we're two idiots trying to be ninja even though we're not. I—I mean _look _at us. You spent half your life sick, and I'm just an embarrassment to my clan. The universe is telling us to quit."

I take his wrist before I realize it. "Obito..."

Should I tell him to stop here? Madara won't get him. Minato and Kushina will live. Kakashi won't have to live with the deaths of so many in his heart. He and Rin could have a happy ending without ever leaving the Leaf. I'd return to Maple Village and never do another ninja thing again.

Good end.

So I say, "Let's quit."

Obito, nodding, pulls off his forehead protector. Tears start to fall from his eyes, but it doesn't intensify until we make it to Rin's house. She drowsily opens the door, but wakes up upon seeing Obito.

"We're not ninja anymore."

Rin blinks. "But... your dream, Obito. And—you worked so hard, Akemi..."

I shake my head. "It's... not for everyone."

Minato and Kakashi go onto become legendary figures within the war. Obito eventually moves out of the Uchiha Clan and takes odd jobs helping the elderly. Rin stops going on missions and works in the hospital.

I stay at home, assisting my mom with our clan duties, rarely ever leaving. It's a boring, sleepy life, but peaceful.

And Naruto's birth is boring. The three become idolized, especially the gifted Naruto who most call the Most Honorable Son.

"Obitobi-kun," I say.

Obito's wrist is still caught in my hand. He's looking at me for a decision. One he's too afraid to make himself.

Which is stupid.

I'm selfish and stupid. I think I can "rescue" him. I think everything will be different just because _I'm _here. I'm afraid to live such a boring life. I want this crazy, stupid, bloody, fun, and hopeful ninja life.

"We're not giving up like this," I say. "That's... what they want. We gotta show them... we're stronger. Maybe not now, but... _eventually_."

A slow smile forms on his face. "Yeah. Yeah! We're not quitting! We're not useless! And we're going to prove it to the world or die trying!"

Obito laughs, though I squeeze his wrist to stop him. He ignores it, though. "Let's... let's not die..."

* * *

**small steps chapter 8** | _d-rank_

* * *

**Reupload**


	10. 02:09

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**genin akemi-chan:** _punishment_

**years til nine tails:** 6_ years, 4 months_

**akemi:** 12_ years, 1 month_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (spring)_

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Obito and I are punished.

Minato has us do the most tedious, boring D-ranks available. Be it scrubbing floors, power washing homes, or even babysitting children who resemble monsters more than anything. And every time we arrive to these missions, Kakashi and Minato always disappear.

"At least we keep the money," I say, holding up a small bag of ryo coins.

"Sensei can't keep this up," Obito scowls, rubbing his sore hand after helping a family of 12 move today. "He's looks too nice to nice to hold grudges."

" ...Kakashi could."

He grinds his teeth his teeth together. "Don't say his name near me!"

Obito and Kakashi have been... hostile, to say the least.

Obito ignores Kakashi and Kakashi insults Obito just to get a rise out of him. Neither one listens to me. In short, we're off to a horrible start.

"Kakashi _is _our teammate," I say. "We... we can't keep fighting."

"Hah! Good one! Until that jerk learns to respect other people, I got nothing to say to him." Obito frowns at me. "You shouldn't try talking to him either."

I sigh. A ache pulsates between my ears. I need sleep before dealing with this.

When I get home, I drag my feet across the floor until I enter my mom's room.

Mom looks a little shocked to see me there. She lowers her scroll and says, "Akemi? You look miserable."

"My teammates argue," I sigh. _A lot_.

"Shouldn't your teacher do something about that?" Mom pouts and scowls all at once, looking oddly adorable. "Or... is he one of those who teach by experience? I suppose it won't do to have you three too reliant on him."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because you'll hesitate when it really counts," Mom says. "You'll be too afraid to do anything without asking him. It could... it could get you..."

"That," I say hurriedly, "won't happen. They'll... find away."

Mom isn't convinced. Her wide eyes glisten from unshed tears. "Okay. But make sure you take good care of yourself before worrying about them, all right?"

The next day, Team Minato's mission involves finding the demon cat himself. _Tora_. Minato and Kakashi decide to stay to help out because:

"I've done this mission 42 times," says Kakashi. "I'll have him returned within an hour."

I blink. "Why... would you take this mission more than once?"

Kakashi gives me the stink eye.

"Don't worry, Mina-sensei," Obito says with a lopsided grin. "I'll have Tora back in half an hour!"

"That's impossible and you know it," Kakashi says.

"Well, would ya look at the time? I better get going!" And Obito runs off.

Minato exhales quietly and looks at me. Expectant?

I hunch my shoulders. "He's already gone. I don't... really want to run after him."

The corner of our teachers mouth rises a little. "I guess Obito is still upset. But if this mission goes well, I was considering letting you two off the hook."

Oh?

I take Kakashi's wrist, who bristles at the contact. "Hurry, Kakashi. Let's go."

Kakashi snatches my hand away and starts sniffing the air. Then just takes to the skies, forcing me to chase after him.

Kakashi is quick and agile as he gracefully carries himself across roofs and apartment balconies. I hop to and fro in a remarkably less elegant way, trying to cross enough distance to catch him.

But, on the cusp of a small forest, Kakashi stops in a crouch. I nearly stumble into him, but he catches me. Before pushing me off him.

"Tora is close," he whispers.

Really? It'd probably taken us twenty or so minutes. I try to quiet my heavy breathing. "...what... should I..."

Kakashi interrupts me. "Nothing. You're worthless."

"But... my cousin..."

"I don't care about that. Leave this to the pros, girl. Tora isn't a cat you'd want to mess around with."

"Kakashi," I huff, but he disappears too quickly for me to follow.

(It was just playing easy all along.)

Fine then.

Kakashi won't need my help.

I walk without sleeping to the Leaf's main gate because I'm so frustrated. So upset that a flash of yellow and a soft, "Where are you going?" barely startles me.

Though, I glance at Minato, who seems curious. "My cousin has cats. So... he can help us."

"Oh, that's interesting." He continues walking alongside.

I reach my house. Minato insists on staying outside, so it's easy for me to race to Satoshi's room and ask him.

"_The _Tora mission? Your teacher must hate you," Satoshi says, as he bandages a bird's wing on the floor. "It's tough one. All I can say is that you'll need a trap."

"How so?" I sit next to him, watching his deft hands heal the bird.

"Cats can't resist catnip! But it's not like Tora will just walk into a trap willingly. You gotta use your noggin." Smirking, he pretends to tap his head, as his hand currently has blood on it. "Tora is smart but not a genius."

I'm nodding as my mind is racing. "Then... could I take a few things?"

"As long as you safely return them."

Satisfied, I enter Satoshi's pet closet. See, normal people put their clothes and junk inside a closet, but not my cousin. He puts all animal releated junk together inside this highly organized closet space. It feels like I'm a super secret agent off to save the world as I peruse through the boxes marked _KITTY CORNER_.

I seal away important items, thank Satoshi, and leave. Minato is still waiting for me and walks back.

"So," I say, once in the Leaf, "you know where... Obitobi-kun and Kakashi are, right?"

"Correct."

"How?"

Had we been marked with the Flying Thunder God Technique? I'd been trying to get Minato to touch me, like a head pet or a shoulder grab. Because I'd sure appreciate it if he could teleport to wherever I was if I needed it.

Though, I'm not sure if it's permanent or if it activates when he's near. I've checked over my body several times to find something. No luck.

"I have excellent chakra sense," Minato says instead. "They're together right now. Shall I take you there?"

I nod. I'm not walking anymore.

He takes my shoulder and...

It's like I'd just blinked, but everything is wrong.

The air, the lack of direct sunlight, the ground—all different. Everything wrong just pelts my brain with information all at once, leaving me reeling.

"Akemi?"

Minato is shaking me gently. Behind his bright, blond hair is the muted tones of the forest.

I shake my head, preferring to ignore the sensory overload. "Sorry. I'm... when I Body Flicker... it's a lot slower."

But there's no way what he did was a Body Flicker.

The flicker uses chakra to prevent too many things overloading the ninja. And it _is_ the slowest form of teleportation if the ninja's name isn't Shisui Uchiha. All Academy students know the delay every space-time Ninja Technique has.

(Oh bunny gods, the _space-time physics test _was the worst thing humanity had ever done.)

Minato chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, yes. I apologize. Sensei will do better."

I nod.

Honestly.

Minato is _crazy_.

Who'd could ever go on to master such a scarily powerful Ninja Technique? Especially one by a dead Hokage?

But before I can marvel it all, I hear Obito's distinct scream.

And so I run.

And it's Obito and Kakashi, with Obito all scratched up and bleeding slightly and Kakashi looking aggravated.

"I found Tora first, and you know it," Obito is shouting. "I was gonna capture him!"

"You know you were going to fail just like you always do. Why am I stuck with the likes of you? Why not the Hokage's son?"

"'Scuse me? 'Cause you're talking to the future Fourth Hokage here!"

"I have more of a chance at being Hokage right now than you ever will your entire life. "

Woah...

Obito is just about done with talking, so he's gonna fight. And lose. Which will make things worse.

It's me who stands in between them, hands on their chests to nudge them apart. Their hearts are drumming _fast_.

"We... we can capture Tora together," I say, trying to think of something to calm them.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?" Kakashi growls, ready to yank my hand away.

"See, Akemi-nee? He's a jerk! Why are you trying so hard to get us to work together? We're better than him!"

Ugh.

"No, we're not."

Obito freezes. Stares at me.

"But," I add quickly, "neither is Kakashi. We... all need each other. We all have things... the other lacks. See?" I unravel a scroll and, with a little chakra, unseal a few cat toys and catnip. "My cousin loves animals. He knows _exactly_ what a cat wants. Kakashi's done this 42 times, too... so he knows how Tora works. Plus... Obito is kind and smart enough to track Tora. We can do this... if we do this together."

I look between the two of them. They're silent and wary. Maybe unable to understand my intentions. Maybe they really do feel they could do the mission alone. They can. They're talented enough to do it.

"Look... if we all had time, I'm sure we could capture Tora without help. But... that's not the reason why we're on a team, so..."

I don't know what to say.

The silence continues until Minato's footsteps summons all our attentions. He clears his throat. "I think that's enough. We'll take a break for the weekend. When we come back, let's complete this mission once and for all. Understood?"

"Yes, Minato-sensei," we drone in unison.

Kakashi bolts first. By the time I turn to Obito, he's dashing into the distance. Groaning, I begin my long trek home, cat toys in hand.

* * *

**small steps chapter 9 **| _punishment_

* * *

Sometimes the Leaf can look very unfriendly. When it rains, the sky is a scary dark gray. Pregnant droplets rain down, striking all it touches. I can feel its weight on my umbrella.

Walking through the Leaf with puddles everywhere is a challenge. I'm careful to prevent too much water from finding its way between my toes and water walk on any puddles. But all of this is really exhausting. I'm supposed to be asleep.

_I should go home. Nishi-sensei probably won't teach me much._

To go back while I'm nearly there... that'll take too much effort. So I keep going through these lonely roads, seeing warm _and dry_ people within their homes or buildings.

As if to scold me, the sky _booms_, jostling my insides and sending tremors through the street.

"Ah!"

For a second, I think I said something. But, thinking about it, my voice isn't that high pitched. There's no one on the streets and I doubt I heard someone inside.

Yet, looking up, I see a small figure on a nearby rooftop, distinguishable only by a signature hairdo.

"Hmm..."

Curious, I push some chakra to my feet and hop on a rooftop close by. The girl is getting drenched by the rain. Maybe I should give her my umbrella? Hopefully I can get sick and not have to go on missions for a bit. Not have to worry about arguments.

(Mom will be mad, though.)

"Hey... do you want—"

I cut myself off as she leaps away to the next building. No reaction. She probably didn't hear me; the rain's so loud and the thunder isn't much better. I leap after her. But I'm still too slow. She's always a step ahead.

Sometimes she leaps to high up roofs that are stretch for me to reach. Other times, she does multiple small hops before stopping. It's hard to accurately follow, especially when I'm already breathing heavy.

_Aw, my toes are soaked._

The thought of no missions propels me to continue my pursuit. Maybe I should be expending this effort wisely... but with no one to be my voice of reason, I continue.

She leaps off another building near an apartment complex. The leap to the next roof is small, so I prepare for a small jump. And as I land, I don't meet rough tile, but a puddle formed in the rooftop's hole. Like slipping on ice, my balance gets thrown out the window as I fall to the ground, umbrella forgotten.

I _can_ recover from falls.

But, frankly, I'm _exhausted_.

This has been the longest amount of time I've focused on controlled chakra bursts while physically exerting myself. It's alright with me to fall to the ground and break something. It's probably karma at work.

Still... I shut my eyes.

"...uh?"

The ground is much warmer than I expected. Actually, I don't think I'm falling down but _falling up_?

Opening my eyes, I understand. She's holding onto me, arm under my knees and on my back, coolly looking up at the sky as she reaches the apex of her jump and lands on the rooftop nicely (without slipping).

Out the corner of my eye, my umbrella is stuck on an uneven roof tile.

"What the heck're you doing?" she says, exasperated. "Why are you following me?"

I can't really see her face clearly under the darkened sky, but I can imagine an eyeroll. I point to my umbrella. "...thought you needed one."

Anko Mitarashi takes one look at it and scoffs. "You're joking. Does it _look_ like I need it?"

"Yes...? You're drenched." As an afterthought, "We both are..."

"Ugh, there's no helping you..."

Anko drops me. The cold water soaks through my already damp pants. My slow movement does nothing to help the chill ripping through me.

"Beat it."

I grab the umbrella. Still usable. I open it up and turn to see Anko still watching me, expression mostly shadowed. Lightning strikes, burning bright. She doesn't even flinch.

"Anko?"

"What now? I'm not leaving until you get lost."

She tenses as I walk closer. So, I move slowly, hold the umbrella over the both us. Without the rain, the wind makes me aware of how cold I am. "...are you okay? Something... doesn't feel right."

"What's it matter to you?" Anko doesn't meet my eyes. Droplets fall from her round cheeks like tears.

_Something is wrong._

I can't leave her. At least, I can make sure she gets home safely, then her family can help her.

(I'm going to be late to Nishi-sensei.)

"Hey, let's... let's head to your home... You know, dry off."

"Go to your _own_ home."

"...somehow, I'm worried," I say.

Anko grits her teeth loudly. Her hands fold into trembling fists. "Worry about _yourself_! I don't need your dumb pity. Follow me all you wanna, but I'm not saving you when you fall."

"That's fair. "

Anko runs and leaps away. After sighing long, I pursue.

Anko drops to the ground at last to walk up to an apartment door. I'm right behind her as her hand slips and drops the key. Taking it from her, my dry hands are able to open the door.

Anko's apartment hasn't changed a bit. Well, maybe it looks devoid of life. There's no dishes in the sink, everything has a thin coat of dust, and the air is so bland, so impersonal I could be outside and still smell _something_ that tells me people live here.

Anko throws off her shoes and walks to what I assume is her room. In the kitchen drawer, there's a small candle, barely used. I light it up with a bit of friction and search for the bathroom.

Even this room is ominous. The tub is almost too spotless. There are only three towels and only one seems used. Ignoring the hair standing on my back, I proceed to fill the tub with hot water.

"Anko? The tub is ready..."

I knock again. Nothing.

With an excuse me, I pull open the door. The curtain is mostly closed, save for a few streaks of gray light. It falls on the curled up figure in the bed. I set the candle on the dresser and sit on the bed. Anko hadn't even changed into clean, dry clothes.

"Anko? Is everything... are you... want to talk?" I stammer.

She meets my gaze, her red eyes shining with tears. Underneath, there are bags making the ten-year-old seem far too withered.

"Go away."

"...take a hot bath. I'll try to find Rin, so—"

"No! What's wrong with you? Don't get her involved!" Anko snatches her pillow and throws it at me. I don't care enough to dodge it, so it hits my stomach. I cough in pain. "Leave me alone!"

"Rin is a medic." I toss the pillow onto the bed. "She can heal... if you hate hospitals. She—she's way better at this."

"Dopey, you just don't get it! Rin _can't_ see me like this. I'm not about to have her worrying about me."

"But you're not okay, Anko..."

"Why do you give a damn after all this time?"

Anko sits up, throwing her blanket off her back. Eyes wild, burning.

"You just showed up and ruined everything! I should've been number three. Rin shouldn't have wasted time with you instead me. I should've had the best accuracy and Body Techniques. You screwed _me_ over!"

Her voice is raw.

I stare at my lap. "I'm sorry. I don't know... what I'm doing. I really am stupid."

Anko sniffs and sniffs. The rain drums on the window.

"Can I... make it up to you?"

"...make it up?"

"Let me cook for you. Something warm."

She doesn't speak for a long while.

"_You _can cook?"

"Only my favorite dish."

Anko, intrigued at the prospect of food, reluctantly gets up, grabs some clothes, and heads into the bathroom. I wait for the sound of water before continuing to the kitchen.

I'm unsurprised to find rice in her kitchen. It takes a bit longer to find a bowl, though. But, with the help of a chair, I'm able to wash the rice and place the pot on the gas stove. As the rice cooks, I search for any kind of toppings, finding only a few eggs, basic spices, and herbs.

When the bathroom door opens, I'm ready with Anko's bowl. I meet her in the hallway where she watches me, smelling of cinnamon and spice. Her shirt is huge on her, like something a man would wear.

"Wow," she huffs, "rice congee."

"Um," I say, offended, "rice congee with salt and pepper... finished with a side of egg and sweet herb."

"Don't even try to make it sound yummy! That's just rice and water! Even the rain tastes better."

I hold the bowl out. "It's getting cold..."

Anko groans and snatches it. "Well, go take a bath! If you're afraid of the dark, too bad. I need the candle!"

_She's letting me...?_

"Oh, um... I don't have any clothes."

"Ugh. Just... wear something of mine til yours dry. Don't just stand there, _move_!"

A little while later, I'm enjoying the effects of a hot bath and hot congee inside my belly. Anko only gave me one of her brown shirts to wear. Because she's grown since Academy, she's ever so slightly taller than me. Her shirt fits perfectly.

I sit under her covers as I eat, as she lies down next to me, quiet.

"I feel like sleeping," I say, satisfied.

"You always do," Anko grumbles.

I rest my head on the pillow. It's nowhere near as soft as my pillows. But the cozy mattress is better than lying on a _futon_. Thank goodness for Anko's Western-style bed.

"Anko?"

She grunts.

"Can I... spend the night?"

"If you cook for me. I suck at it." As she says that, she stuffs pillows in between us and rolls over.

"Thank you," I whisper. "I'm sorry... I hurt you."

"Well. You're not special. Don't think just 'cause I'm letting you stay mean I won't beat you up. You took so much from me, dopey."

I roll over and watch raindrops fall down the window's surface. "Of course. Don't... don't stop trying to get stronger."

_And neither will I._

It's silent for a long time. I have no idea how to start a conversation. Anko is probably embarrassed to be so compromised as is. I really should have ran. Why did I stay?

Guilt? Remorse? Fear?

"Dopey."

Oh bunny gods... I clear my throat. "Hm?"

"You ever been near a person who scares you?" Anko says at length.

Is this... boy issues? I don't even know where to begin. "In... a relationship?"

"...they say you become like the people you're around. I know it's true 'cause it's happening. I'm becoming scary, too."

Oh...

I see.

"...not true," I say, causing Anko to look at me dubiously. "You're still the same Anko. Anyways... you're hotheaded, I doubt... _anything_ can change that."

"Hm."

The rain only starts to ease up as the silver streams of light fade into dark blues. I sleep poorly for once, popping in and out of dreams to monitor Anko. The girl who _does_ sleep.

I know I should be heading home, but what if she wakes up and needs someone and I'm not there?

She's so young... that could traumatize her.

(Heck, sounds like Orochimaru is doing a good enough job already.)

I'll just have to explain myself tomorrow. Maybe suffer a punch once Auntie comes back from her mission.

_No winning for me..._

When I change into my old, mostly dry clothes, I can sleep so much bettter swallowed by all this soft fabric.

Still, my sleep is interrupted.

By early dawn, I'm up, watching Anko lightly snore away, face peaceful.

_This is ridiculous. Maybe if I tired myself out, I'd sleep. Something like..._

My stomach growls.

There's not much food inside her house and my recipes are few, but I cook some more rice and eggs. But, unsatisfied, I quietly sneak out the door and head to a nearby marketplace. Some are always open at the crack of dawn and their prices are usually the cheapest. Without competition, nobody can complain. I buy bittersweet pears and other not so sweet fruits. When I return, I wash them, cut them up, and decorate the rice bowls.

As soon as the last pear drops, I feel lethargic. I shuffle to Anko's room and collapse into her soft bed. If I pretend, it's still warm—

"Hey, dopey!"

It's so painful opening my eyes. Still... Anko looks bright and well-rested.

"I didn't have a nightmare! Nothing at all!"

"...congratulations."

"Why do you sound so exhausted? You slept all day yesterday!"

"...not really. I kept waking up... checking on you. Oh, I made breakfast, too. And... wake me when you're done, I have to apologize to my teacher for staying here."

"...the weapons woman?"

"Yup... my family's going to be so worried."

I close my eyes and _sleep_. Without Anko next to me, there's nothing that can interrupt my sleep.

Actually, when I wake up later, it feels I've slept forever. I pull open the curtain and peek through the blinds to find the time is something after _two in the afternoon_.

"Anko?"

The kitchen has a sweet smell coming from it. There's Anko at the table, eating out a bag of sweet dumplings on a skewer.

"That's not breakfast," I say.

Anko looks unapologetic. "Duh. It's my snack before dinner."

"No... I mean, I told you to wake me up."

She looks away, staring at the green dumpling. "Well, I explained what happened to your weird cousin."

"Which one?"

Anko scowls at me. She probably expected I would take longer to reply, giving her some time to eat her dumpling. She was wrong. "The boy."

I relax. "Thanks so much..."

She swallows before replying. "Yeah, well, you look pretty rested. Hungry?"

I nod. "But there's not much food..."

"What's wrong with eating dumplings? Here."

She holds the skewer to my mouth. A baby pink dumpling is on top of two others.

_Have I ever tried one before?_ With a thoughtful _hmm_, I eat it.

And I almost want to spit it out.

When I think of _sweet_, I think of the foods this second soul or crappy reincarnation remembers. The dumpling is much, much less sweet... but it still tastes too much for me.

Anko looks offended by my reaction. "Are you even human? What's wrong with dumplings?"

(Says the girl who's named after them.)

"...we need real food for dinner," I tell her.

"This _is_ food."

I buy actual food for our dinner, which turns out to be rice with herbs and reheated fish. Better than having nothing. After a bath, it's time for Anko and I to sleep.

Well, it's easy for me to sleep but I can see Anko isn't as eager.

So I say, "Your dad's... on a mission?"

"Nah. He died before I graduated. The bastard, always taking A-Ranks for the thrill..."

Oh.

Not good.

"Um... sorry about that."

"I'm over it. Not like he was there for me much."

I can't even begin to understand the pain she feels. My family is far too overprotective. So, I change the subject. "These nightmares... how long have you had them?"

"Not too long. Just now. It scared me. I never get bad dreams this much." Before I can respond, she adds, "For someone who sleeps a bunch, do you?"

I can't remember a single nightmare. Even considering all that I know, all the haunting little things, all the disturbing things... it never affects my sleep.

"Ah... er... it's more like the things I see awake are like bad dreams. I... don't get nightmares."

"The things you see awake," she parrots, eyes seemingly staring through me.

"Wrong words...?"

The girl rolls over. I fall asleep a little later, only to wake up four or five times to check on Anko (who looks way too peaceful in her sleep). Once dawn comes again, I make breakfast for dinner leftovers and fall asleep on the barely used couch.

"_Dopey_! No nightmares! Can you believe it?"

"...mm-hm," I mumble, almost able to see the dream I so abruptly left. "That's nice..."

Since I have to meet my team for a mission, I have to head home for new clothes, a proper meal, and a nice bath. Of course, I don't like the idea of leaving her alone, but she looks so much more energetic and relieved than when I first saw her.

"Wait."

Anko pushes the front door shut. "It's gonna be your fault if I have nightmares again."

I wince. "Sorry... but I can't stay."

She grins. "Sure you can. Gimme your sweater. Then it'd be like you never left!"

I... know I'm really sleepy still. But.

"What?"

Anko holds her hand out. "You heard me. Small price to pay, yunno."

I pull off my oh so soft and pale yellow sweater. Now only my mesh shirt and tank top protect me from the elements. I cross my arms over my chest.

_I'm going to miss that one of many._

(But I hope she'll be okay...)

She slings it over her shoulder and opens the door. "Well, bye bye! Next time you see me, I won't be so weak, yunno!"


	11. 02:10

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**genin akemi-chan:** _debris_

**years til nine tails:** 6_ years, 3 months_

**akemi:** 12_ years, 2 months_

**location:** _bloom village (summer)_

* * *

The three of us meet up on the small, red bridge without saying anything at all.

Kakashi props himself on the bridge railing, arms folded and face blank.

Obito sits on the ground, tracing the wood patterns. The cat scratches on his face look a lot better now. He probably got Rin to heal him.

And I stand in the middle of the two, confused.

"Good morning," I say.

Obito makes a noncommittal noise and doesn't look at me. Kakashi sighs and shuts his eyes.

_This is really annoying._

I sit next to Obito. "You know... my cousin could fix your goggles."

"No thanks. Got enough money to buy some more," Obito mumbles.

And it's too early for a birthday present.

"Obitobi-kun," I whisper, "you being mad at me... really hurts."

"What am I supposed to do?" He finally looks at me. But his face is more hurt than angry. "Do you really believe in me? Or are you just stringing me along?"

"Of course I believe in you," I blurt, blinking. "But... that doesn't mean I can't tell you to work with Kakashi. It's... it's not fun anymore. Everyday, you two fight."

"I fight to protect people from jerks like him!" Obito points at Kakashi. Said boy focuses his anger on us.

I push down Obito's hand. "Thank you. But... isn't there another way? I can't stand this arguing. It really hurts..."

I'm whining.

What can I say? I suck with words.

Obito breathes hard through his nose, speechless.

I stand up and walk to Kakashi, who seems ready to pull out a kunai and end me. "Kakashi, you too. You're... just as guilty."

"Says the fool who burned down a library. The ninja world doesn't need mistakes like you."

I look down at him. Because I'm taller. I'm older.

"What ninja world do you even know?" I puff out my chest a little. I can fight back, Kakashi. If I have to, I will. "All I heard in the Academy was about... a mean boy who couldn't keep a single teammate. The 'ninja world'... is only for you."

"You may be top kunoichi," he says at length, "but that's in the Academy. In the real world, that doesn't matter. You'd just be dead. Your family will mourn you for your mistake. Don't you dare hurt your family because you're _stupid_."

Oh?

(Didn't expect this.)

I sense Obito moving behind me as I think. My anger leaves. In its place, sleepiness. I fight back a yawn as I say, "...does this have... anything to do with your dad?"

Kakashi turns cold. "Irrelevant. He was just a fool who didn't follow the rules."

"Guess that... sounds a lot like us, huh?" I'm thinking out loud at this point as it hits me: he hates us because all he sees is his dad.

How the hell could I convince him his dad did the right thing? I could walk two meters away from this bridge and ask someone if Sakumo Hatake was in the right and nobody would agree.

I'm stuck.

Stuck with solving a complex problem with two knuckleheads who think so simplistically.

This is not my place to intervene.

"Good morning, Kakashi, Obito, Akemi!"

Minato walks onto the bridge, smiling and waving. "Are we ready to complete our mission?"

Despite the brightness Minato provides, things are still kind of tense. It's as if lightning is about to strike us all, but teases us with making our hairs stand on end.

"Of course, Sensei," Kakashi says, starting time again.

"Wait," I say. "Let's... make a plan."

Kakashi is already disapproving it. "We can complete this mission within an hour if you'd just let me—"

"We're not a team of three," I stress, "...just so _you_ can do everything. We know you can. You're... the best Chuunin in the Leaf. But, _please_, give us a chance."

Kakashi's eyebrows darted up when I complimented him, but soon his stern face returns. "I trusted you, and you burned down a library, acted on your terms, and disappointed Minato-sensei."

"The fire... was an accident, though."

(I'm never going to hear the end of this.)

"We wouldn't have ignored orders if you weren't such a massive _butthead_, Kakashidiot," Obito leaps in, getting annoyed.

"I told you the truth. You think I'm going to spare your feelings? Work harder, Obito. Stop being a dead last and actually improve yourself as a ninja."

"Which," I interject, "we'd be able to do... if you let us help you in missions, Kakashi. The sooner we get experience from you of all people... the sooner we can become ninja like you."

Obito grips my sleeve. "Hold up, I don't wanna be—"

I cover his mouth.

"You think you'll become like _me_ someday?" Kakashi pours in every bit of disbelief in his tone. Makes me feel I'm crazy for even considering it.

I hunch up my shoulders. "Can't be much better than always being deadweights."

Rolling his eyes, Kakashi _finally_ asks us what we can do (rather he said what we are the least bad in) and makes a plan.

* * *

**small steps chapter 10 **| _debris_

* * *

It takes thirty minutes of Obito asking where the cat is to locate him. Granny Cha from a tea store likes to feed Tora the reminders of her tea treats that went unsold during the day. Over the weekend, the cat never left her shop. When Obito asks Granny Cha about them needing to return Tora, she sadly agrees.

Problem is that Tora has, like, a sixth sense, Kakashi says. When he's about to be captured, he scrams. Somehow, we have to convince him nothing's wrong. And so we have Granny Cha run the tea store as normal, but prevent too many elderly customers from entering.

Next, I perch myself on the tea store's rooftop with Obito on the rooftop across from me, looking in. I attach a few cat toys to ninja wire and dangle them a few centimeters over the ground. It's Kakashi who makes a bird sound to alert Tora.

_He's looking at the window_, Obito says into the radio. _I think he sees—he's moving!_

The door had been left open to bring a small breeze into the store, so Tora slips out and saunters to the feather-covered cat toy with a silver bell ringing. He tucks his paws underneath him, sways his butt and tail side to side, and pounces.

But his paws meet nothing.

I successfully moved it out the way.

Tora attempts again. This time, his paw grazes the toy.

Again. Tora's mouth clamps down onto the toy. But the toy soon loses his interest. He stands. Licks his paws. Looks back to the store.

_Akemi_, Kakashi says, _prepare a plan B._

I nod... then realize I have to speak.

(Come on, don't get a little panicky...)

Tora doesn't move, though. He tilts his nose into the air. Tilting his head, he moves away from the store, searching.

And after a few seconds of searching, his eyes go wide.

Ahead is a small can. It's opened.

Tora dips his nose in. Then eats at whatever is inside.

It can only be catnip.

_Now, Kakashi!_

Like the night itself, Kakashi swoops in on Tora, scoops him into the cage, and locks it. Obito and I gather next to him.

"Heck yeah, we did it!" Obito punches the air.

I nod. "You... didn't get hurt, right?"

Kakashi shows me a slight cut on his hand that's barely bledding. "That's the least damage Tora has ever done, honestly."

We complete our mission, much to Minato's delight. As we're walking out the mission desk doors, he says, "I'm very proud of you all. You worked together and did a job well done."

"Thank you, Sensei." Kakashi inclines his head.

"That wasn't too bad," Obito nods.

"I suppose," Minato starts slowly, "we could all try C-Rank missions now."

Kakashi perks up and Obito starts to gush and say _thank you, Mina-sensei_.

As for me, all I can see is Zabuza's face.

* * *

**small steps chapter 10 **| _debris_

* * *

Starting the next day, Team Minato begins to take C-Rank missions. It makes sense: Minato was _the _best Jounin, taught by Jiraiya even, and Kakashi is already a Chuunin. They were probably miserable doing D-Ranks.

Our first C-Rank, though, worries me. I can't really expect for our C-Rank to go as wrong as Team Kakashi's, but the fear exists.

I head to Nishi-sensei's shop to buy a few more weapons and scrolls. Upon dumping my small bucket on the counter and fishing through my sweater for my wallet, Nishi-sensei says, "Did your Mom get worried, or something? You never buy this much stuff."

"It's our first C-Rank." I find the little yellow pouch and go through my ryo.

"Yeah. With a Jounin and a Chuunin on your side. This's excessive." Still, Nishi-sensei accepts my payment with a thoughtful look.

I seal up my weapons and head to the bridge where Minato and Kakashi wait, talking lightly. Once Obito arrives a few minutes late, Minato explains the mission.

"An earthquake caused a few buildings to collapse, trapping some villagers. We're to rescue them. But we have to be careful. If we make any wrong moves, lives can be lost. Understood?"

He stares meaningfully at Obito and and me. I nod in agreement quickly.

Then we're off to Bloom Village, a town mostly known for being a midway point between two larger villages. It's meant to be flashy and eye-catching, to lure in fatigued wanderers and have them spend copious amounts of money in what feels like a few hours.

It's hard to tell what exactly it was that attracted people, because all we see is the sad remains of what once could have been magical. Sunlight cuts through floating dust fragments. Smoke of still burning or extinguished fires pillar in the sky. There's so many people covered in dirt, sweat, or blood sifting through the remains closest to the ground while others sob or sleep.

"This is awful," Obito murmurs, eyes watering behind his broken goggles.

I nod and squeeze his shoulder as we slow our pace.

"You'd think what happened to Bloom Village was the result of war," Kakashi says to I don't know—Minato? "Man can't really surpass nature, huh?"

Kakashi... is this really the time?

Maybe he's been reading too many books or trying to sound years more mature than is. His words leave a better sting in my throat.

"You all?"

We gaze up at Minato. The grim, solemn expression he wears looks unnatural. Fake. His movements are no longer that of a giant trying hard to crush an ant, but of a highly trained soldier.

I thought when I'd see Minato in action for real, I wouldn't be this afraid.

"Stay alert. Anything can go wrong and you won't have enough time to fix it. We may lose lives today, but it's important that we save any amount of lives, too. Above all, do not overexert yourselves. Understood?"

"Understood," we drone.

As soon as the villagers who can still move spot the silver glint of our forehead protectors, they start sobbing.

"Help me! _Please!_"

"I can't find my daughter! I can't find her!"

"My dad is going to die if he doesn't get help right _now_!"

Minato, to my surprise, gathers by the small group of injured people and places glowing green hands on top of a person. He's smiling, speaking calmly, as the loved ones cradling their wounded shout at him.

"Obito, you help the strong villagers rescue people from the _most_ stable buildings," Kakashi says, tone leaving no room for argument. "Akemi, you gather up the women and children and lead them back to the Leaf. _Surely_ you can protect a few people back? If not, just wait for me."

I look at Obito, but he's pale with his dark eyes unfocused. "I... I can?"

"You don't sound sure."

"...I will."

"One more thing. The medic squad got the people most at risk out, but it seems like there's more people injured than they thought. Request another squad and request a fatality report."

I blink. "A... what report?"

Kakashi rolls his eyes. "Forget it. It's your problem if they ask you how their people are doing. Go now."

Getting the women and children together is a lot harder. They don't want to leave. Many of them are missing family. Some lament the loss of every important thing they had. The children vary from inconsolable to not understanding what's happening.

My first group is made of the most level-headed women who'd lost little. It includes a pregnant woman, who receives aid from two others to walk.

I take one last look at Minato working hard to heal the others enough to where their wounds aren't fatal, Obito hauling large building pieces with other men, and Kakashi helping out somewhere I can't see.

I lead them all on the well-travelled road. I want to sleep, but I get the feeling my dreams will be haunting. I settle for keeping my hands inside my sleeves, where I've sewn small pockets holding sealing tags. Said tags holds my weapons.

All is well.

At first.

"This is a disaster," one woman groans. "Bloom Village won't recover."

"Yes it can. We just need a little help!"

"From who? The country is one bad day away from total war. Why would they care about a little village?"

"War?" I look over my shoulder, searching for a face eager to explain.

"The kid doesn't even know nothing! Honey, the countries have been pissed at each other for years. Until their little Daimyou call for war, there's nothing stopping them from terrorizing us."

"Just last week," another one adds, "one your teams came to my inn all bloody and bruised. Turned out they were trying to escort a group of Lightning merchants to the Leaf, but found out they were spies."

"Oh," I say.

Nothing bad ever reaches the Leaf. It's hard to tell when thing are rough. And information is hard to come by if a ninja doesn't have power. It's probably the border villages who are suffering the most, while I sit in the Leaf and enjoy my cushy lifestyle.

I wonder if that's the reason Dad and Auntie had been gone for so long.

"We'll survive. We have hope right here."

"Don't lie. There's no way your baby's alive after all this!"

I snap my head around just to see a woman with one eye covered in bandages stained red shout at the pregnant woman.

"Don't you dare say that!" Her voice shakes.

"You don't _get_ it. We're getting screwed over because the countries can't play nice. People who haven't been born yet are being hurt. And for what reason? Power. It's always power."

"One day, they're won't be war! I'm sure my baby will grow up in a future like that!"

"You're delusional!"

"You're wrong! Just wrong!" She turns to me, eyes watering. "Isn't the Leaf doing its best to keep us protected? All of us?"

"Definitely."

These people hadn't even seen war but still lost loved ones and the world they once knew. It just one night, everything was gone.

(It'll just keep happening. It'll happen to Obito, to Kakashi, to Rin, to Minato—)

"We might not live in the Leaf together," I say, keeping my gaze ahead, "but... we're family, I think. Family protects family."

"Exactly," the pregnant woman says, voice quivering.

"Well, I expect you to actually do that," says the other woman. "Save us. Save the innocent. Save the dead from the mess you created. We're tired of suffering."

We make it to the Leaf and it's up to my clumsy attempts to give the rescued permission to enter. I herd them all into the Leaf Hospital. They sit in the waiting room muttering about where is their home—Bloom or Leaf?

"Akemi Minakura? From Team Minato?"

I hold my breath as some sort of hospital official walks up to me. I nod.

"You're working on Bloom Village, correct?" says he.

"Yes."

"Here's the fatality report"—he manifests a scroll from his pocket I collect—"and your group is going through the missing report. I'm positive if you can't find them within the next day, they're probably dead. But for a lowly populated village, many of them have survived."

My head starts to throb from the information. I bobble my head. "Can we... can we get a medic squad?"

"We have three medic-nin available at the moment. It'll have to do."

The squad consists of two C-Rank medic-nin and one D-Rank medic-nin. They look in their late teens and tired. Oh so tired. But upon me mentioning Bloom Village, a determined fire shines in their eyes and they follow behind me.

We spend all day and a little through the night helping Bloom Village before Minato uses chakra sense to declare no more people with functioning chakra can be found. The medic-nin talk of sending a Body Retrieval squad later on, but our work is complete.

After Kakashi watches Obito and me do the mission report, I'm finally allowed to head home.

When I wake up, I find myself in the tub, soaking in hot water mixed with lavender and lemon. My growling stomach forces me out.

I drift downstairs in nothing but a robe. My legs are weak—they'll be sore tomorrow, but I think Minato gave us a week off—so it makes moving painfully slow. Luckily, Mom sees me and picks me up.

"Are you feeling better, An-chan?" Mom squeezes me. "Your teacher works you too hard."

"No... I wanted to... save them." I rub my eye.

"Oh, Akemi..."

Dinner is hot and smells so good. I'm eating rice and octopus and fish that fills my stomach quickly.

Sayaka and Satoshi sit on either side of me. Sayaka keeps hugging me and wanting to feed me. I decide to humor her for a bit.

"Mom?"

Mom smiles at me. "Yes?"

"Could I... is it okay to bring my teammates over? Just—just for dinner."

Kakashi and Obito could never enjoy this. Life never really asks before it takes forever. It's not their fault, and I hope they never feel that way, even if I can't ever understand their pain.

I wait for a response, but everyone has gone still.

"I'll... help cook extras?" I offer.

Mom practically _squeaks_. "Of course you can! I want to meet them! I want to tell them to stop arguing and causing you grief, too. But I want you to make friends, An-chan!"

Sayaka hugs me once again. It's a little hard to breathe. "Look how much An-chan is growing up! She's going to be such a wonderful adult!"

Satoshi messes up my hair. Which is a feat, considering it's been messed up all day. "Let's buy them a present! What animals do they like?"

Sayaka releases me to poke Satoshi. "Are you just trying to give away animals?"

He grips his chest as if stabbed. "I would _never_."

Step one: ask Mom is a success.

All I have to do is convince two people to make the ten minute trek to my home to eat.

Of all the things I dream of, this seems the most unrealistic.

* * *

**small steps chapter 10 **| _debris_

* * *

**AN**

Hey hey. It's been, what, nine months? Sorry about that. University and life hasn't been going well. Plus, I lost a lot of the original chapters. But you'd be happy to note that I'm required to write as a part of therapy so know that while you're reading this, I'm writing.

The plan has changed significantly as to what I stated in chapter 7. It better reflects my mental state and the themes I want to explore. There will be more chapters in the work that will cover approximately 4 years until Kannabi. I'll keep chapters short enough rather than huge, long monsters.

There might be another flashback chapter/chapter -2. And/Or a short story series at the end of chapters. I really like writing them. Let me know if you'd like to see more.

Lastly... Akemi has a mental state somewhere between a child and an adult, while not completely being either one. Does memories of another world make a personality? Or is it the soul that makes a personality? Who knows. Although I quantify her age, it's all just relative.

I mean, she's been awake for 7 years. Has the memories of a young adult. Is supposed to act like a 12 year old. Who really is she? What age is she?


	12. 02:11

**Small Steps**

_A sleepy kunoichi_—_nicknamed the Narcoleptic Ninja_—_has big dreams. Wanting to save her teammates Obito, Kakashi, as well as her sensei and his love, the sleepy kunoichi will have to work hard to see her dream come true. Reborn!OC_

* * *

**genin akemi-chan:** _surrender_

**years til nine tails:** 6_ years, 1 month_

**akemi:** 12_ years, 4 months_

**location:** _hidden leaf village (fall)_

* * *

Even though Team Minato has a small break, I feel too antsy to stay home by three.

So, I find myself walking to the Leaf rather early. So, just a little after noon.

The soreness in my legs are mostly a dull throb that hurts from exertion, so keep a sluggish pace is best. I stop by Anko's apartment, but she's not home. I slip her a note hoping for good dreams and an invitation to go eat sweet dumplings.

Rin said Guy tends to keep Team Chouza busy, so she probably wouldn't be home, either. Nobody's really allowed to enter the Uchiha Compound—rather, they can but, just like the Hyuuga, it feels like you're being followed. It certainly doesn't help that half of Uchiha adults are connected to the Military Police Force.

(I might have to ask them for directions to Obito's house.)

I wouldn't even know where to begin to search for Kakashi, but I'd feel like he'd be training or doing a quick mission. And Minato... probably wouldn't want a 12-year-old bugging him. He'd probably be with Kushina.

In the end, I belatedly realize how little friends I have.

So I go to the only friend required to see me.

"Oh, it's you, sleepy," Nishi-sensei says, waving bye to a customer. "Here to buy more weapons?"

"...I don't know," I admit.

She narrows her eyes, shifting her weight to one hip. "Good to know that's what I'm here for."

I sit on the countertop. "How are you, Sensei?"

"Fine, I guess. Still trying to screw over my competition. Can you believe that slimy weasel made a tax free kunai weekend?" Nishi-sensei's fists shake violently. "The nerve of those people! They tryna get me out of business?"

"But... aren't you doing the same?"

"It's different. I'm not just a weapons store. I'm training a future weapons master." She purses her lips. "You _are_ practicing, right? Those stupid D-Ranks didn't screw you over, eh?"

I'd been practicing. Maybe not as hard as I should've...

She picks up on my hesitation and drops her head, hand holding up her hair bun. "If you don't use it..."

"You lose it." I pull at my sleeves apologetically.

"Well. Since your inferior teacher refuses to do anything with you, I guess I can teach you another skill."

Oh.

(What else did I expect?)

"Another weapon?"

"Oh, yes. And once you master the basics, you can use this in so many different ways, it's crazy!"

Really?

I follow Nishi-sensei down to the training room in the basement of her store. She searches for something on the shelves while I wait. She returns before long with—

"...do ninja," I say, "_use_ this?"

In her hands is a training bow with a low draw weight. So basic that it wouldn't do good damage that a skilled archer would at the same distance.

"Um, first of all, yes, we do," Nishi-sensei says, shoving the bow into my hands. "Second, this a multi-stage process. You literally can't do anything with a training bow, so we've got to get you as advanced as possible. And once you master the basics, try different arrow types. Honestly, _every_ ninja should use this instead of flinging stupid kunai without thinking!"

Nishi-sensei makes me put on gloves and other tools of assistance on the bow to help make me as accurate as possible. She says it'll take longer to master it without help.

("And you don't have time," she says. "Your teacher is valuable. They're gonna start using him.")

Unsurprisingly, a lot about shooting a bow and arrow requires math and micromanagement. Angles are so important. If I'm not perpendicular, I'm screwed. If I'm not relaxed in some fingers but am tight in the others, I'm screwed. When I finally have a good enough posture, only then can I nock my training arrow. Only that now I had to aim while ignoring the bow string. Said bow string is pressing annoyingly into my nose and lips.

"I... kinda hate this," I grumble while moving as little as possible.

"You look kinda cool, sleepy. But _this_ is the easy part." She snickers to herself.

Apparently, I use one eye to aim? Not both eyes?

"Well, depth perception doesn't really matter here," Nishi-sensei explains. "All you're doing is using elasticity to fling something with power your little body can't make."

So, I release the arrow and it flies. Lands on the last ring despite me aiming for the center.

Nishi-sensei laughs.

"Sleepy, this ain't like throwing kunai. Different muscles are at play. If you're too far away, use more strength. If you undershoot, arch up. But too much and you'll undershoot again. Unless you're super strong, arrows don't fly a straight line."

I lower the bow and roll my shoulders. "Especially if there's wind."

"Basically anything outside is your enemy," she acquiesces.

I drop the bow and arrow. "So... how similar is this compared to throwing kunai?"

"Um... er, I guess—you're a machine now? Like, whenever you nock an arrow, you have to do it the exact same way every time. Just like when throwing kunai, you keep your hand from tilting or flopping. You mess up, and your accuracy is gone. You could hurt yourself."

"How... can you possibly hurt yourself?"

If the arrow is being pushed away using a string, I can't see how it would hurt me. A stranger? Yes.

So, Nishi-sensei loosens and slides down my string nock—a knot guiding the back of my arrow where the fletching meets my fingers—and the anchor point assisting my aim, tips the bow down, and says nock the arrow.

Which I do?

It's hard to tell if it's exactly the same area. I'll admit I hadn't been completely serious about shooting arrows.

When I let go, the arrow flies.

In a crazy pattern.

Nearly stabs me as I dodge for my life.

And Nishi-sensei is laughing, clutching her side and pointing at me.

Shooting arrows can be kind of dangerous after all.

(But how can a string nock and anchor point help this much?)

Annoyed, I pretend to nock an arrow, really visualizing what would happen to an arrow.

Nishi-sensei stops laughing immediately. "Wait—wait, what are you—?"

I release the string and the _snap_ just sort of ripples through my body. It sounds more wooden than string—the wood's splintered.

And Nishi-sensei takes my bow away, yelling, "What kind of advanced stupid are you?"

I'm still blinking.

"Never ever ever ever ever dry fire! Do you realize how hard my heart is beating? You could've hurt yourself! Did I say you could do that?"

Her face is as red as her dress. I shrink in on myself. "But... I always mime doing weapons..."

"Well, don't do that with this! And your aim was still pretty crappy. So, you know what we're going to do?"

I freeze.

My teacher nods. "Enjoy that feeling of shooting. 'Cause that's not happening again for a _loooong_ time."

For the rest of the week, Nishi-sensei has me practice proper posture and nocking an arrow the same way every time. It has to be muscle memory, she insists. By the time my break is over, I still haven't consistently nocked an arrow.

_Hard work sure is hard._

* * *

**small steps chapter 11 **| _surrender_

* * *

Operation eat dinner with my family is not going well.

Firstly, Kakashi doesn't even entertain the thought before saying, "No thanks."

Secondly, Minato is quick to say, "I would love to, but I'm busy for now. Maybe sometime in the future?"

Lastly, Obito says, "I don't want Grandma to eat dinner alone, though. Maybe later?"

(I really need to stop dreaming so much.)

I have one more option. With fall around the corner, the maple trees in Maple Village will turn blood red. During that time, a small festival is held. It's nothing too fancy. My family's made a habit of spending an hour or two at it.

I'm not all that keen on it. When I was younger, I was much more rebellious and sheltered, and so I went to the festival all alone.

_Bad idea._

Even as a Genin, the place creeps me out.

But. I can try to get them to come to Maple to see it.

It's worth a shot.

And so on our day off, Obito decides to get Rin and me together so we all can train. We meet up at a decently late time, for I hate waking up early and Obito is always late. Then we head to Rin's house.

Obito knocks a rhythm on the door. Rin opens it before long. Compared to us, Rin is a massive early bird. But both of us are shocked out of our minds to see that she still has on her lavender nightgown, rubbing her eyes, leaning against the door frame as if she can't stand up anymore.

"Rin! Are you sick?" Obito is practically shouting.

I decide to press a palm against her forehead. Rin can't heal herself when sick. She needs to be able to concentrate. So, I say, "You... should really go to the hospital, Rin."

Rin yawns and waves dismissively. "Come on... colds go away. But I'm not sick. I used too much chakra yesterday."

"Eh? Did you get hurt?" Obito looks torn from helping Rin and beating up whatever hurt her.

_I'll back him up, too. Who could hurt Rin?_

(Well...)

"No no no!" She's laughing at our worry. "Guy hurt himself training, so I healed him."

"Your teacher... let you heal him this much?" _Chouza Akimichi let Rin exhaust herself this much?_

"Well, er... see we get together and train when we don't have missions, and Guy just passed out all of a sudden. That's when I found out he was really hurt, but... he _insisted_ on not going to the hospital. I figured, I should try my best, though. He's always pushing himself to the max, I just really wanted to help! I mean, if all else, it's experience."

A cross look forms on Obito's face as he tenses. "If you ask me, that eyebrow weirdo forces too much outta you, Rin. You should be careful."

But Rin shakes her head sharply. "It might seem that way, but Guy is always trying his best. I mean—he's even motivating me to try a little harder. I don't know. I feel like I owe him, somehow."

"Rin," I mumble, squeezing her shoulder.

_She's an angel._

But Obito is a little upset about some "stranger" forcing Rin to use all her chakra. We leave Rin be.

"I don't understand why she hurts herself for that green weirdo," Obito rants as we walk to... it's hard to say. He doesn't seem eager to continue our plans without Rin. "Nobody's worth that."

"Rin... knows Guy better than us."

If I could heal Guy after whatever crazy training regime he did, I'd do it. He's going to become such an incredible ninja.

"Oh, please," he scoffs, "we've been his classmates. He's _not_ worth it. Gods—if Rin were just on a team with us, she wouldn't be this tired. We would take good care of her!"

It's too bad Obito might not ever know that.

I try to give Obito a firm look. "Rin... made the decision to heal him herself."

Obito isn't even looking at me. It's like he's so wrapped in his head, his anger, nothing seems to matter. I'll never understand just how an emotion could be so intense. Is it an emotion? Or an obsession?

Regardless, Obito is not seeing reason. "He probably forced her! I wouldn't put it past him. You saw how he would work himself half to death! Now he's taking advantage of Rin, and—"

I don't want to hear it.

(He's young. I shouldn't be harsh...)

I grab his jacket, pulling him back. He looks confused, almost hurt. People start walking around us, casting nasty looks, so I tug him out the way.

"You... should respect Rin," I whisper, releasing him. "She does the same."

"_What_?" Obito really looks at me. Looks at me as if I'd grown a second head. "I do respect her! Rin is smart and hardworking and sweet. She's my first friend and my best friend, and I'll always protect her. What are you talking about?"

Oh, Obito...

"That's admiration. If you're going to be her boyfriend... you need to respect her."

"Well... why should I respect her if she's making dumb decisions? I should stop her. I am!"

Obito walks fast towards Rin's home.

He doesn't get very far.

I push him away. And, to my surprise, he slaps my hands off. Okay. I stand in his way.

"You can't make her feel lousy... just because you don't know Guy well. Why don't you get to know your girlfriend's teammates now, before judging?"

"You don't even know them," he hisses. "How can you just assume anything? How am I the bad guy when you've known me _way_ longer than Guy? You're not making sense!"

We're wildly off topic.

"I'm not saying I know Guy. It's... you heard Rin. Healing him was important. How... how can you just tell her that it was stupid?"

My _family _had done the same to me. My dad stands out the most to me, however. He'd supported my crazy ninja dream immediately. He respected me.

It was so important for me to become a ninja.

"That guy isn't worth her in pain." Most of Obito's vigor has worn away. He might be arguing just so he isn't wrong.

"It's not about Guy... it's about _Rin_."

"I _know_. And I also know when someone makes a stupid choice. I'm trying to help her from making stupid choices. I _respect_ her enough to do that."

That's not respect. Far from it.

"People are _difficult_, Obitobi-kun. The end."

"Akemi, maybe _you're_ just wrong," Obito says instead, my annoyance starting to rile him up. "You always act like you know everything. You ain't as annoying as Kakashi, but it's the same thing. How do you even know you're right? How come _I'm_ always the wrong one?"

What?

What does this have to do with Rin?

"I don't think I'm right... it's just common sense. You just can't control Rin—"

"Nobody's controlling anybody! And even if I was, I'm doing it to help her."

"She doesn't need your help, though. You... don't have the right to call her choices stupid, either."

"He—caused—her—_pain_. Nobody ever needs pain, Akemi!"

Obito shouts at me. His voice goes up in pitch and his glare is something best directed towards Kakashi or an enemy. Not me.

I'm not his enemy. I never was. I don't intend to start now.

(But I won't let him hurt Rin.)

"No-one... needs pain? 'Cause if Kakashi hadn't hurt you that night... we never would've tried doing that D-Rank. And you know everyday that Rin loves Kakashi and _not_ you. Would you... even train as hard as you do now if Rin loved you instead?"

Simple, simple facts.

So clear and undeniable.

Obito _has _to see my viewpoint. There's no other way. I know Obito. I know how to help him. Sadly, I know how to hurt him. But, it won't matter what I've done because he'll finally understand.

Right?

I search his face for understanding... and yet, I don't find him widening his eyes in some sort of grand epiphany. Don't hear him apologizing.

Obito bites his lip. His eyes are shining. No amount of blinking can clear them.

My ears are burning. My heart is pounding.

Obito looks away.

It's awkward.

I'm not sure what to do.

I leave.

He doesn't stop me.

_What now?_

I don't want to apologize. I didn't do anything wrong.

Yet... I'm always complaining about Kakashi and Obito arguing. I'm not much better.

I decide to just sleep my frustration away.

Team Minato meets up later in the week on the bridge. I'm in no mood to talk to Kakashi. And when I hear Obito's footsteps, it makes me too nauseous to speak.

Obito doesn't say anything. And then Minato arrives with a cheerful, "Good morning!" that only Kakashi repeats.

"Are we doing another D-Rank, Sensei?" Obito cuts right to the chase.

Minato doesn't reply at first. He looks at him, then me, then tilts his head briefly. "Yes. Just a simple D-Rank."

Our mission ends up being forced to get rid of weeds around the local playground. A few kids play even now, while their superiors work their butts off.

No kids bother Kakashi. He gives them a glare and they scatter. Wouldn't doubt it if he threw in Killing Intent, too.

The kids don't really bother me, so they pull at my messy bedhead or ask questions I don't have brainpower to devote to answering.

Obito is the only one who engages the children. He makes them laugh and even recruits them on his weed picking adventure.

When we gather up to compare our totals, Obito wins by far.

(It wasn't a competition, though.)

"Congratulations, Obito," I say, clapping a bit.

He ignores me.

_So mature._

Obito can get mad at all he wants for me being right all the time. Maybe I _am_. I don't see why I have to work so hard for things that are _irrelevant_ to the plot.

Who cares if Obito likes me? Madara just can't convert him.

Who cares if Kakashi hates us? I just need to become stronger.

After all, I didn't waste _years_ of my second chance at life when I could've been sleeping or enjoying my youth just for this. Just for two, annoying idiots in a stupid world that's beyond my control.

Why am I _always_ working so hard? I need a break.

I need to rest.

And if it's rude, so be it. I don't have the energy to care.

As soon as we submit our mission reports, I head home, up to my room where I tear off this stupid sweater and pants. Into my comfortable pyjama shirt and under the covers.

(I really am such a sucky ninja.)

I can't believe I made such a big deal about becoming a kunoichi. I'm such a fool. I thought...

I _dreamed_ too much.

Sleep tugs me under. I only resurface when Mom wakes me up to eat or ask something I can't grasp within the fog of sleep. It feels _perfect_ just sleeping without having to train or do stupid ninja things. My belly is full, my body is pain free, and my dreams are meaningless.

This is why I slept all those years.

Just like all those years ago... before I'd met Nishi-sensei... before I completed my first civilian-nin mission... days blur together and become indecipherable. There's profound freedom in wanting nothing at all.

Call it a second soul or a crappy reincarnation, but it was the worst thing that ever happened to me.

(It's sad thinking about all the lives I'm abandoning, though.)

"An-chan?"

Mom is softly waking me up once again. I don't smell food. It must be for something unimportant.

I murmur something and try to cover my head.

She rocks my body more firmly. "There's someone who'd like to talk to you."

"...I'm tired," I groan. "I don't care."

"You should. It's your team—"

"I'm not a ninja, Mom. You were right... it was a mistake." I roll over so that I'm no longer facing her. "I'm so tired..."

"An-chan..." Mom stands quickly, sniffling (ouch), and I realize I'll get a punch from Auntie in the future.

For now, I sl—

"Akemi."

_Oh no._

"I know you're awake."

He sits on the mattress, preventing me from moving much with my blanket. I lift the pillow over my head.

"Go away..."

"No. I don't think that's what you need."

"I'm tired. Go mess with Rin... even Kakashi can entertain you. But not me. Not anymore."

He has the audacity to huff, as if I'm the troublesome person here. "I don't get why you're acting like this! This isn't like you. All I said was that you think you're always right. Why would just quit being a ninja?"

He talks like I'm the irrational one here.

I'm realistic.

I'm so realistic, I know when to stop dreaming.

But.

I sit up and launch my pillow at him, saying, "What do you even know about me? Rin knows... way more about me. She's seen me when I was weak. I was there for her... All you cared about was her. I was an afterthought. I always am, Obito. I'm... I'm so tired having to work for everything."

Obito lowers the pillow. Initially, he was ready to hit me right back. "Everything?"

"Our friendship. Being a ninja. Why am I still doing this? There's... _so many_ red flags stopping me." I hug my knees. "I can barely use chakra. I'm so... slow. I used the wrong kunai. I took Rin's spot for no reason. I took her place. You and Kakashi fight all the time. I—I can't keep... it's so hard, Obito. I've never worked this hard in my life. I don't know if it's worth it..."

I know I'm mad at him.

Why am I telling him all these things? I haven't told my own mother.

Oh.

_I don't have anyone to talk to._

Rin is far away. I can't cling to her in the hallways. I can't rely on her to help escape my social faux paus. I can't wake up and see her handwritten notes cheering me on on top my desk. I can't rely on her to talk to Obito and Kakashi.

I miss Rin.

I miss not being as responsible as I am now.

I'm not an adult. I'm still just a kid.

I cover my face. "It's just so... so much. And now you hate me. I don't understand. I was right... I said the right words but—but I'm not Rin. I'm not Sayaka. I'm not my mother. I... don't... know what I'm supposed to do—"

My voice had begun to grow annoyingly squeaky. My head pounds like never before. I don't know what's happening. What's wrong with me? Have I lost it already?

I guess Obito has as well.

Without warning, he throws his arms around me and squeezes. His googles are painfully pressing against my head, but I'm so scared to do anything while my body is this unpredictable. What will I do if I go over the edge? How will I react? Can I return?

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm not... a good friend. All I really have is you and Rin. Well, not really Rin, actually. I'm just so used to her being there, I didn't get how lost we'd be without her." He laughs bitterly. "We, ah, really suck at making friends?"

I blurt, "I tried to befriend Anko."

"...you sound kinda desperate."

"I don't know what I feel."

Obito hugs for a long time. I'm not sure what I should say. I'm not sure if he's afraid to say anything. Although, I do eventually complain that my legs fell asleep. Only then does he pull away.

"To be fair, Akemi-nee, I thought you were really strong," he says. "Stronger than Rin. You don't really make many faces, so it's hard to tell if things hurt you. Plus... I'm really stupid. You have to tell me, okay? We have to talk."

"...only if you listen."

"I will."

Obito doesn't hesitate. Something about that sends chills up my spine.

"Again. I'm really sorry. I'm sorry about our fight, too. That's our first time, ain't it? I didn't understand why you were being so rude, but I get it: it's Rin. You don't want me to hurt her because she's precious to you, right? She's precious to me, too."

He touches his heart, smile impossibly soft and mushy.

I mirror him. My heart beats fast as opposed to its lazy drawl.

"I'm a little jealous, Akemi-nee. I know you don't think of me the same. But, we're teammates now. I want you to. I want you to be someone important to me besides Rin. We can do it. But it's gonna take hard work. We'll work hard together."

...how does he do that?

I'm reminded of his speech to Kakashi as he chased after Rin.

He's so good with words. I'll never understand.

I'll never understand why it's suddenly less difficult to continue being a ninja.

"Obitobi-kun, if I go back... you have to help me," I honestly plead. "I can't keep doing this alone."

Obito grins. "Of course! I'm counting on you, too, Akemi-nee!"

I nod. "Then it's settled. I'll... be a ninja one more time."

He springs to his feet, offering me a hand.

"After," I conclude, "I finish my nap."

**small steps chapter 11 **| _surrender_

Team Minato takes on both D-Ranks and C-Ranks. We aren't doing nearly as many as before, meaning more free time. The D-Rank missions are usually pretty quick and are community service more than anything. The C-Rank missions Minato has us take usually have us acting as support while the main teams handle everything else.

In short, the missions aren't supposed to level us up. I think Minato just wants us to get as much experience as possible.

So when we're walking back from a small fishing district (somehow their lakes—their water supply—was poisoned, so we had to keep everyone calm and comfort the sick), it's me who breaks the silence by saying, "Minato-sensei... we don't really train together. I mean, we don't spar."

Minato, who's behind me, lets me see how shocked he is by my words. "I don't think it's time yet."

"Whaddya mean, Sensei?" Obito, interested, looks over his shoulder, too.

"You've only been Genin for... nearly half a year, right? Obito and Akemi have a long way to catch up with Kakashi, so I want you two to have enough experience with how higher level missions would go. Have you two been training in your spare time?"

Obito and I nod. Sometimes I'd get bored in Nishi-sensei's store and Obito agreed to let me practice next to him.

That said, we can't ever practice together. I can't do Ninja Techniques all that well due to my low reserves. Martial arts aren't really my forte either. Obito isn't much of a fan of using weapons, even if his aim has gotten way better. The most Obito and I did together was exercise—jogging, pull ups, lunges, et cetera.

"Then I think we're on the right track," Minato says, so happy his eyes crinkle into a thin curve of lashes.

"Yeah, but when can _we_ fight?" Obito says, stars in his eyes.

"On missions?" Our teacher tilts his head.

"Yes, Mina-sensei! You should just give us a shot, you know! It's not like we're gonna ignore orders again." He casts an aside look at Kakashi.

Perhaps feeling a gaze, Kakashi gives Obito a look that reads _Try me_.

Obito jerks his head away and whistles nonchalantly.

Minato holds his chin, going _hmmm_. After staring at the ground for a while, he says, "I'll consider it."

"Yes! Mina-sensei is the best!" Obito waves his hand up high, allowing me to high five him. He blinks, sighs. "Akemi-nee, you do it too soft."

"I... don't get why they should hurt?"

Plus... that's so much energy for something so unnecessary.

Obito groans but brightens up before long.

* * *

**small steps chapter 11 **| _surrender_

* * *

**AN**

Hey hey. It's been 6 months since Akemi and Obito became Genin. Time flies.

Has Akemi been making significant progress? Is her level of power believable? I mean, you just can't beat people like Rin or Kurenai in less than 5 years and have nothing to show for it.

Do you like this format of having a mission then rest? I'm told that's how the og series was supposed to go. But, I'll try not to bog down the story with too many missions and have little time pass. Why? Because when Kannabi happens, _that's_ when things get really interesting.

Let me know what's working and what's not, and I'll be sure to improve.


End file.
